Hunting the Great Stag
by NothingJustScreaming
Summary: Artemis returns to one of her old hunting grounds on vacation, and quickly finds herself in a world of magic engulfed in a war for the light.
1. Chapter 1

**Hunting the great Stag**

 **Chapter 1**

Artemis was enjoying her week off. It was the first she got in oh, half a century, or so, and she was practically giddy with joy that she could finally have her hunt in peace. She had been disappointed, however, when she returned to an old hunting grounds only to find it had been all but stripped bear of monsters, likely, she reasoned, for a lack of size. The forest was perhaps three quarters what it had been in the late nineteenth century, when she'd last wandered this wood.

She'd left her hunters behind. She loved them dearly, of course, but for now she simply wished to hunt like she once did, alone, and freely. So she'd sent the hunters of Artemis off to kill an ancient beast of some description which made it's home in the deep jungles of central america. It wasn't entirely a fool's errand, of course, but, well, her lieutenant had looked more than a little perplexed when she'd been given her orders.

Regardless, she felt she'd earn this short diversion. Just one week, she'd reasoned, to explore her old haunts in the forests of England, then she'd return home. Artemis snapped out of her musings when a wolf's howl broke through the night. Not just a wolf, a werewolf.

It had been a long while since she'd hunted one of the cursed men. Of course, she was not permitted to kill them, as they were men not beasts. But should she track it down and put an arrow in it, she could easily change them into beasts permanently, then they were fair game, as far as her father was concerned.

Artemis moved like a warm breeze through the autumn wood, leaping from tree to tree as quick as thought and as silent as death. In the middle of a distant clearing, she saw the wolfman howl, the moonlight giving the grassy patch around him a glow that outlined his midnight-black fur. Artemis smiled from her perch on a tree branch and knocked an arrow. She aimed directly above the beast's heart, where she knew would be deadly upon the final transformation ritual she needed to do, but not so immediately, and released. The moonlight arrow sung through the night and struck the werewolves turning chest, causing the beast to let out a yelp.

Artemis knocked a second arrow, knowing that this one would likely bring the beast down, when she suddenly felt herself being thrown from the branch. She turned as she fell, her aim changing to the one who would dare assault a goddess, when she saw a magnificent crown stag, her horns down and bearing on her. Artemis twisted out of the way of the beast's charge, and watched as the creature ran past her with surprise, only to quickly turn heel and bear back down on her. Artemis dodged again, retreating higher into the canopy as she noticed the wolf charging into the fray.

She knocked another arrow at the wolf, only to pause in surprise, as the stag charged the wolf, pushing it out of the way of the tree she'd climbed. It wasn't odd that the wildlife was defending her, no that was to be expected, it was that this stag had clearly attacked to defend her, but not to hurt the man-beast. And what's more odd is that the stag had attacked her in the first place, as if defending the man-beast from her attack. What sort of beast was this creature? She detected the wiff of magic around it. but she did not recognize it's make. Perhaps Hecate had decided to bless this animal? It seemed unlikely, which only added to the mystery. In Artemis' mind, all this meant one thing: this was a great beast, and a worthy hunt. And with that she, the goddess of the hunt, had found her prey.

She knocked her next arrow, moving in the tree to get a better angle on the beast's vital areas. The stag seemed to have fought off the wolf, and turned to look at her just in time to see her release her shot into his hind leg, causing a small sputter of blood to emanate. That was odd, for a moment it was almost as if the stag wished to see if she were still hale and healthy. Artemis ignored the thought, and quickly aligned her next strike, but the beast was moving. The stag darted into the woods, and Artemis gave chase.

The beast ran into the forest with great speed, and quickly it was giving Artemis an interesting run for her money. It ducked and darted between and around trees, running towards the edge of the wood. Strangely, for all the intelligence the Stag seemed to posses, it hadn't payed any mind to the blood that left an easily followed trail through the forest behind it. It did however, run away with a practised grace, always putting trees and shrubs between Artemis and his vital organs. Eventually, he ducked out of the woods entirely, and into the middle of the english countryside village that bordered it.

Artemis growled in frustration, but kept pace. She ran forwards into the small village, a quaint little town, Artemis noticed, one that didn't stink of the foulness of civilization but smelt of the cool, mystic allure of magic. Her trained eyes scanned for the Stag, until she caught a glimpse of a bleeding hind leg and watched as the Stag disappeared into thin air. Well, this beast is just full of surprises.

Artemis's eyes immediately scanned for the telltale signs of a marked beast, and quickly found the trail of blood had not ended where the animal had vanished, but instead continued towards an ancient gate to an old mansion, before vanishing altogether, along with a strange trail of footprints that shifted from the beast's hooves to the soled feet of mankind. Artemis shook her head. What manner of creature had stumbled on to? A werebeast that could control their form at will, disappear beyond even her divine senses, and had struck a deep, almost brotherly alliance with the man-wolves? Moreover, the connection to the magic of Hecate was... troubling, to say the least. And yet, a part of her heart skipped a beat in joy. A new creature! How long had it been since the last? A hundred years, at least? More, in all probability. After the disappointment that radiation had merely produced ill beasts, not mythical ones, she had all but given up hope on new quarry. Artemis smiled. Yes, she was going to enjoy this hunt, and she vowed to see it through to the end, when she at last had her beast and the spoils of the hunt with it!

The next day, the goddess was in the form of a young woman wearing robes on a street of Hecate's Chosen in London. The ground here was stained by thousands of years of magical energies. It had been founded when she went by Diana, and had continued for many centuries after that as a haven for those who hide the arts gifted to them by Hecate. But Artemis was not here for sightseeing. She had gathered the blood of the stag and used her magic to create a charm which would lead her directly to her quarry. The only trouble was, all of last night the Stag had been hiding on the grounds of an ancient manor protected by powerful blood wards, much to the Lady of the hunt's displeasure.

So now she waited for the creature to make an appearance here, where she knew the chosen of hecate would shop in this country for medical supplies, such as the ones he would need to recover from her blessed arrow. She was not here, however, to make the kill. No, she was merely here to scout out the human form of the were-beast so that she could take it down easily next time the moon was full. She smiled to herself at the prospect of a successful hunt.

There was a pop, and the charm she had made indicated the arrival of the beast nearby. Artemis made her way around a nearby corner shop and spotted a group of two men leaning into the shadows of an alleyway. Both men seemed to be around the same age, one long, jet black hair the hung to his shoulders, with an easy look of elegance about him that screamed old money. The other had similarly colored hair, but short and unkempt, with laughing brown eyes that reminded Artemis of her twin brother. And just like Apollo, the man's good humor seemed to hide a dangerous side, like a spring coiled and ready to be sprung.

The two muttered something to each other, that Artemis' ears couldn't pick up, not for a lack of sensitivity, but for the overwhelming amount of noise the crowded street produced. The dark haired man gave a glance at his friend, who nodded, shifted a cloak around him, and disappeared just like before. Artemis checked her charm immediately. Nothing, of course. Whatever was cloaking him was powerful magic, indeed.

The other man ran a hand through his hair and stepped into the street, looking as nonchalant as possible. Artemis followed him, figuring that he would likely be followed by the stag in turn. She pulled the mist around her thickly enough to distract her from all but a god's notice, changed her clothing into those she used while on the hunt, and continued her pursuit.

The man gave an overly dramatic furtive glance around him, and entered a dark, dank looking alley. Artemis refrained from snorting in derision of the all-too-obvious act. It was as if he wished whatever he was luring to be warned. Artemis followed, noticing the shadows thicken as the went deeper into this part of the alley, and with them the men and women seemed to become more shabby looking. The man with his finely tailored robes and elegant posture became blaringly obvious to any who was observing, and Artemis couldn't help but wonder what he was hunting, though she was certain there was a hunt afoot.

The man stopped at what seemed to be an otherwise completely average store and walked in as if he were just meandering the local wares. Perhaps he was baiting his quarry? If so, walking into what seemed to be such an unsafe place, his enemies territory even, seemed unwise. She'd seen the store clerk had sent some sort of signal he had failed terribly to hide, then disappear into the back of the store. Artemis couldn't deny her interest, and why should she? It wasn't as if this wasn't her field of expertise.

Suddenly a crash was heard and a flash of red light buzzed through the air. Artemis quickly crouched into the shadows of the alley, her attuned senses detecting a few pops in the store, but the Stag was still hidden. She saw five masked, hooded figures in the store, all using Hecate's magics at the black haired man. Yet, against all odds, the Black haired man was holding his own. Despite being desperately outnumbered, the Black haired man dodged or casted thin white shields to defend against all the attacks, and he even sent out a few of his own that almost invariably hit their target.

One of the hooded men made an error, one that Artemis all but snort in derision of how obvious a blunder it was, and was justly rewarded with a spell the Black haired man casted that sent the man flying back into the wall of the store, knocking over an assortment of glass vials in the process. Another of the group shouted, "Black, you bastard, where's Potter?"

"Right here, Avery," a voice said from behind them, and with a flash of magic, the messy haired man from before appeared and joined the fray. The two men worked in near perfect tandem, as if they had some sort of psychic link letting them anticipate the others every move, and in seconds all five of the hooded men were incapacitated by conjured ropes. The store clerk seemed to choose this moment to appear with wand in hand, but before he could get a spell of two beams of light collided with him, knocking him over and tying him down.

"Good work, Pads." the messy haired man, the werestag, said with a weary smile.

"Why thank you, James old boy, not bad yourself." the man said with a cheeky grin.

The man raised his wand and muttered some spell-words, and a majestic silver stag appeared. Artemis muffled a gasp at how it was the same Stag she'd seen, and not a moment later her bow was in her hand. But, wasn't the Stag from before rather normal looking? And she was certain that it wasn't as wispy or obviously magical as this one was. Perhaps just an impression, then? She would have to commune with Hecate about the nature of her magic was. The Stag listened to the man say, "Moody, we've got five down here including Avery senior as well as old man Burke." Then, with an extravagant bow, the magical construct bounded away.

"I'll stay here, Pads, you get home." The werestag said walking towards the other man, his limping confirming her tracking of him as the beast from yesterday.

"No, you get home," the other man said with a smile, "I'm sure Lily-flower will kill me if I let you stay on that thing any longer than you had to, especially in the state she's in." The messy haired man opened his mouth but the other man pointed his finger menacingly at him, "No arguing. It's no your head that will end up on a spike, you old bugger."

The first man rolled his eyes, but smiled, "Thanks, Padfoot." and he left the store, wand in hand. Artemis watched as he went through a familiar ritual, the ritual of the hunter. His eyes quickly scanned all of the faces on the street, and all of the storefronts, then the nooks and crannies. She realized a moment too late that she wasn't cloaked, having been so entranced in the battle in the store. The man's hazel eyes widened as he saw her, and his wand quickly pointed at her. But before he could get a word out, the goddess of the hunt disappeared into the shadows and teleported away, wondering at her own carelessness.

That night, James thought about the girl with the silver bow. Who was she? Why was she here? James wasn't certain what to make of her, but he certainly didn't appreciate the attention. Afterall, she had been trying to kill Mooney, and then she went after him! Hardly a good way to make a first impression, in his opinion. Then again, he had been a Stag at the time... Bah, it was a private lot! She had no right to hunt on his family's old estate, anyway.

Which of course begged the question, how had a muggle gotten on to the estate in the first place? It's not like there weren't ancient, powerful wards in place to protect it from magical intruders, let alone muggle ones. But then again... no, that doesn't make sense. She had been on Diagon Alley, so she must be magical. So then why hadn't she tripped the wards? He would have to investigate this later, but for now, he had to face the music.

"I'm ho- Ow!" James' announcement was interrupted by a book flying directly into his head.

"HOW COULD YOU?!" Lily shouted, her arms crossed above the slight bulge in her stomach.

"I'm sorry, honey, but there was no one else they could send for this mission..."

"Oh and that makes it better does it?" the redhead demanded, "What if you got hurt again? What if you got sent to the hospital, and I didn't know until it was too late, because you didn't tell me you left!?"

"But I wasn't!" James replied, trying to get closer to the couch his wife was sitting on while dodging a small assault of thrown objects. Why she hadn't resorted to hexes yet was a mystery.

"Flipendo!" Ah. Nevermind, then. James took cover behind an arm chair while a small volley of hexes and jinxes went over it, all the while giving apologies. After a minute, he heard a whimper come from the other couch. James peered out from behind the first sofa to see Lily's bright, vivid green eyes washing over with tears.

"What if you died?" Lily asked in a quivering voice.

James got up from behind his cover and sat on the couch next to his young wife, "I wasn't in any danger, sweetheart. Sirius was taking all the fire while I snuck up on them. No one even cast a spell at me." At least, not with any accuracy, but James would keep that to himself, "I'm not going to die before I can meet our baby."

Lily chokes on a sob and buried her face into James' shoulder, "I was so scared I was gonna lose you like mum and dad."

James pulled her into a hug, "It's alright, Lils, I promise." They sat like that for a while, until eventually, Lily stopped sobbing and pulled back to rub her puffy eyes. James remembered something with a smile, "I brought the crisps you asked for."

Lily's eyes suddenly warmed, "Where?"

James reached into his never ending satchel and produced a large plastic bag, "Here you..." Lily snatched the bag and tore it open, then began devouring its contents, "... go." James finished with a chuckle.

After a few mouthfuls, Lily gave a concerned look at James' leg, "Is your leg still bothering you?"

James shrugged, "A little. The muscle regenerating potions mostly worked, but I think whatever I was hit with was cursed somehow, cuz they aren't growing as fast as they should."

Lily frowned suddenly, "I thought you said you checked?" her temper was clearly in danger of rising again.

"I did, promise!" James defended quickly, "Which is why it's so odd. I used some pretty old and well tested checks on it too, but nothing came up." James put a hand through his hair, "I don't even understand how she could have gotten there in the first place. She didn't trip any of the wards."

"She?" Lily said, safely back in her inquisitive, thoughtful tone, "You didn't mention it was a she before. She shot you with an arrow?"

"I didn't think it was relevant while I was pulling a ruddy arrow out of my leg, and yes, she did." James' brow furrowed for a moment, "And I could've sworn I left it on the tale here. Do you think she snuck in and took it back?"

Lily shook her head, "I've been here all day, no one's come in." she pursed her lips in thought, "Maybe they have some sort of ward repelling spell that's protecting them? But that wouldn't make sense, it would still trip the pressure activate wards. Granted, you were in the forest behind the Oxford manor, it's not the best protected, but still."

James nodded, "That's what I'm trying to figure out," he hesitated a moment, then added, "She wasn't wearing Death Eater robes, and she wasn't using a wand. I thought she might have just been a muggle who stumbled in somehow, but then I saw her in the alley today..."

"Wait you saw her?" Lily asked, "Did she try to shoot you again? I thought you said no one..."

"She didn't," James replied, "She was there after the fight was over. I tried to stop her but she just vanished. I'm not sure how, I didn't see any signs of magic."

"Did you get a good look at her? Maybe we can ask around the auror's office, see if there's anyone similar," Lily suggested.

"I suppose," James thought for a moment, "She had dark brown hair, I think, and green eyes almost like yours, though not as lovely, of course," he added with a cheeky grin, "She was around our age, I think. Which is weird, because she seemed much taller today than she was yesterday."

Lily considered this for a moment, "Are you sure they're the same person?"

James nodded, "Pretty sure. She had the same, weird dark green outfit on, with the same silver bow and cloak clasp." James thought for a moment, "They were very similar looking. I doubt they were different people."

Lily considered this for a moment, "You said it was like she was hunting you and Remus yesterday? Maybe she put some sort of tracking charm on you, and was hoping to find her pray."

James frowned, "Maybe. She didn't shoot at me today. Maybe she'll just go away?"

"We can only hope," Lily replied kissing his cheek.

Artemis was sitting on the edge of the estate her quarry seemed to reside in, her ears tuned to hear the conversation the two mortals were having. Blood wards? Artemis sneered in disgust. The very act of building one was tantamount to spitting on the gods, and forbidding them from your home. They were powerful, certainly, capable of keeping one inside them safe from all but a near constant barrage of strong magic of one sort or another, but in the process they kept the gods from entering your home. In that way, they were barbaric.

Artemis drew a powerful arrow, one crafted by Hecate herself so that she could kill the one who dared use such vile magic, when she heard a cry.

"We're almost there, just a little farther!" She heard a young woman cry.

"Lizzy, I can't..." came a girl's voice.

Artemis turned and climbed through the dark forest on the edge of the estate to see the young woman carrying a child in her arms, running the other way. Her eyes widened when she noticed the girl's chest had a bloody wound in it that the woman was covering with her hand, keeping pressure on it.

"C'mon, please Amy, it's just a little more," the woman said, looking hysteric

"It hurts so much, Lizzy," the girl said, her eyes clouded with tears.

The woman gave a glance behind her, still running towards the estate. Prey, Artemis realized. The woman was running like she was being hunted.

"I'm so cold, Lizzy," the girl cried weakly, her eyes starting to close.

"No, no, stay awake for me Amy, please, stay awake!"

"I... I can't" the girl said in a whimper, "I'm so cold."

"No!" The woman stopped, and got to her knees, wiping out a wand , "Episkey!" she said, pointing at the wound on the girl's shirt. The blood seemed to recede, and after a few moments the girl gave a gasping breath, and both Artemis and the woman felt their hearts beating again.

"There she is!" A twisted male voice cried out from behind them, and a series of inky black clouds descended around them, "Aw, look at that, she was almost there!"

Four black cloaked figures like the ones from the shop appeared around them, "If it isn't Goyle's little squib and her blood-traitor sister. What a wonderful surprise" A tall one said in a mocking, malicious tone.

The young woman got to her feet, and pointed her wand at the figures. Only to have a red light strike her and the wand fly out of her hands.

"Tsk, tsk," the figure said again, "I'd of thought Goyle would have taught you some manners, pointing your wand at someone like that is rude."

The girl backed up, but quickly ran into a tree, "Get away from me," she said defiantly.

"Don't be scared, luv," the man said mockingly, "I won't hurt you none," he said, his eyes roaming her body, "You may even enjoy yourself."

He reached out a hand to stroke her face. She closed her eyes and held her sister closer. The she heard a choking sound. She opened her eyes to see the robed man, wide eyed in shock, with a bloody arrow head coming out of his neck.

"Crabbe?" one of the other figures asked, stunned. The robbed man fell into a heap with a thud.

There was a whir, and another arrow sprouted out of a robbed man's chest. He screamed, and Artemis smiled. "Bloody hell!" A third cried, shooting a spell at her, which she easily dodged.

She threw a silver knife, which collided with the man's hand, pinning it to a nearby tree trunk. She jumped from tree trunk to tree trunk, doing a spin with a long knife to neatly slice the downed man's neck. The fourth man tripped on a tree root, and was sent sprawling on the ground. Artemis stopped her fast pace, and walked menacingly towards him.

"What... what are you doing?" he said, desperately retreating to a tree, only to find magic locking him to the earth.

She sneered, power radiating through her as she drew an arrow, "Killing beasts." A twang, a whir, and the man knew no more.

The protector of maidens turned to see the girls she had saved, only to find that they had run. She ran after them, only to see them standing in the woods in front of the werestag and his mate, beyond the wards. The mate had taken the girl in her arms, and had a wand over her, casting a series of spells that smelt of healing magic.

"What happened, are you alright?" The werestag was asking the woman, looking at her with concern.

"They attacked us, I thought they were gonna get us," she said, then she started weeping, the man going to her side to keep her from collapsing.

"It's alright, you're safe now."

"Crabbe! Merlin's beard, they're dead!" came a voice from behind the group.

The messy haired man looked up, "We need to get away from here. The wards will hold them, but it'd be best if they couldn't see us." The woman nodded and raised a wand. With a pop, she was gone. "Do you think you can apparate?"

The young woman nodded, "I think so," as the man raised his wand, the young woman's eyes widened as she spotted Artemis in the distance, "Thank y-" another pop, and they were gone.

Artemis was alone once more, the new batch of intruders having quickly left. She pondered the wards around the manor. Perhaps, she reasoned, they were not as sacrilegious as she once thought. Afterall, if they were being used in the defence of maidens, they couldn't be that terrible. But, something still felt wrong to the goddess. That a new sort of monster was associating with such powerful, taboo magic was the main thing. Yet, the man himself didn't seem to smell of monster blood at all. This was troubling for two reasons, the first being that it meant that she was perhaps tracking something that could hide its monstrousness from even the gods, the second being that it called into question her right to hunt him at all. Afterall, she was not permitted to kill mortals whenever she so deemed fit, not that it would be punished if she did, exactly, but it would most certainly be frowned on and out character. (of course, the fools she slaughtered today were permitted, as they were attempting to assault a maiden, whom she protected, but still...) It was all very strange, indeed. For now, she decided, she would let the blood wards stand, if only because they were protecting the maidens inside.

Inside the manor, there was a tentative silence as James and Lily pondered the girl's (the young woman had nearly instantly collapsed in sleep) story about a silvery woman with auburn hair who saved them from Death Eaters.

* * *

 **A/N**

I can't justify this. I don't know why I wrote it, it just sorta came to me one night while I was working on chemistry homework. But, I, uh, kinda like it? I dunno, it seemed really obvious to write, and no one had done it before, so...

Also I stole a line from the Witcher 3 trailer. Sue me.

If y'all like it, let me know, I'll write more.

For those of you who are still waiting on a new chapter for Skirmish of Sovereigns: HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN! For those of you who are waiting on a new chapter on Lions and Wolves: My writers block is hemorrhaging. I wanna say i'll have something for the end of novemberish, but I haven't felt all that inspired. To be honest I was working on another thing that got up to around 30k words before I promptly trashed it, so, uh, yeah. It is not dead yet!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Thursday July 15th, 1993, 9:10 PM**

Artemis was the best hunter in the world. There was no debate in this claim, no alternate point of view, nothing. Artemis was the best, bar none. Which is why, when her trail was going cold, Artemis was at a loss.

Her tracker shouldn't fail for a decade at least, and yet she never could tell exactly where the werestag was. She knew he had abilities that made even the most potent of magic fail to find him, but she had seen how the tracker seemed to be failing faster than it really should. It seemed to point her in random directions at times, as if the beast were trying to throw her off the trail and damnit all, it was working. It was all she could do not to shout in frustration. How was she meant to finish her hunt next full moon if she couldn't track him there?

A thought occurred to her. The werestag had been with the werewolf during the last full moon, had he not? Perhaps if she could track the scent of that beast. Afterall, she knew how to hunt werewolves, even ones who could teleport. With these thoughts on her mind, she returned to the scene of her last hunt.

She followed the tracks from the tree where she first found the werestag. Well, was attacked by the werestag, anyway. And how had she let that happen, anyway? She must be slipping. Regardless, they continued away from the scene, and wandered aimlessly the way werewolf tracks tend to. Eventually, she came across the carcass of a rabbit who had a really bad day involving an encounter with the aforementioned werewolf. Perfect.

The goddess collected a sample of saliva and quickly made a new tracking charm. She raised an eyebrow when the magic reported back that the werewolf was a few hundred feet away, on the other side of a small bluff. Sure enough, upon reaching the top of the hill, she found a small, thatch roofed cottage sitting atop the old ruins of a medieval castle, she had last seen in much the same condition.

Artemis ignored these thoughts and gave a glance to the sky. The painted hues of sunset were overhead, and it promised to be a cloudy night. She knew she would have no troubles scouting out the house before her, especially, after a brief feel for magic, she found only normal, and therefore passable, wards, meant for mortals, not cloaked herself in the forest, and gazed into the small cottage window.

A sandy haired man who looked young, but had heavy lines on his face and graying hair, was sitting drinking what looked to be tea while reading a book. He looked as if he had just taken off his travel wear and settled in, judging by his still fidgeting in his chair and the way his muscles were slowly relaxing. Artemis studied the musculature and bone structure, and came to an easy conclusion: this was her werewolf.

The man furrowed his brow for a moment and started looking around the room, sniffing. Could he smell her? Impossible, her godly powers should be cloaking any scent she gave off. Then what was he looking for?

Her question was answered by a puff of smoke and a man stepping gracefully out of the fireplace. The dark haired man from before, the one the werestag had called 'Padfoot' had an air of narcissism about him as he strutted over to sit at the table where the sandy haired werewolf was raising an eyebrow, clearly amused. How Artemis despised magic using mortals.

"You know, it's normally considered polite to call first," the werewolf said.

"I thought I'd make it a surprise," the Black haired man countered cheerfully, " Put a smile on that grumpy face of yours!"

"What part of barging into my home unannounced is meant to make me smile?"

The black haired man put a mock affronted face on, "Moony, you wound me. After all these years of tireless friendship, you aren't glad to see me?"

The werewolf sighed, "It's good to see you Padfoot. Now what do you want?"

"Want? After all these years of tireless friendship..."

"You used that one already."

"I did, didn't I?" The black haired man grinned, "I just thought you'd like to know how the next marauder is doing."

The werewolf's eyes widened, "Lily's gone into labor?"

"No, false alarm, I'm afraid," the other man said wistfully, "But she finally gave in, after that!"

"She let them find out the gender?"

"It's a boy!" The black haired man said, grinning, "I'm gonna have a godson!"

The other man laughed in joy, then raised an eyebrow, "You're so sure they'll make _you_ the godfather?"

"Of course," the other man said, "I've already worn them down, they just don't know it yet."

Artemis, meanwhile, was rolling her eyes. Domesticity was most assuredly not in her interests. At all. But the conversation did give new information, important information. She knew now the name of the woman she had seen in the manor was Lily, and that the man with Black hair was named Padfoot, though what sort of name that was she wasn't sure. The werewolf was being called Moony, which she immediately assumed to be a joke. It was too coincidental otherwise.

These two were clearly close friends with one another, and with the werestag, who she frustratingly didn't know the identity of yet. It was odd how he alone was capable of eluding her, and very, very annoying. She wondered, idly, if the black haired man and the werestag's mate were aware of his affliction. She thought they must, as they at least seemed aware of the werewolf's.

"Wait," the werewolf said suddenly, making Artemis tense, "How do you know all of this?" False alarm.

"Ah, well," the Black haired man muttered, "James and I were, uh, working late when he got the call..."

"And by working late, you don't mean pranking Moody, do you?" the werewolf asked with an expression Artemis recognized from Athena scolding the younger gods.

"What? Me? Prank _him?_ Oh you have to be off your rocker!" The Black man spluttered, then grinned wickedly, "It was a team effort, Gideon chipped in."

"Of course he..." the werewolf trailed off, then looked up in alarm, "The wards have fallen. They've cut the floo and have anti apparation charms up."

In a moment, the other man had his wand in his hand, "Use the mirror, call James, I'll hold them off as long as I can."

Artemis drew deeper into the shadows, determined not to interfere. She couldn't, she had no right, afterall. A light flew through the forest and crashed into the side of the old cottage, setting of a loud scratching sound that shattered all the windows. A red light appeared out of the window farthest to the front, blasting into a tree and exploding, sending wood chips flying.

Artemis frowned, and counted the hooded figures quickly. Ten, she thought with a grimace, they're outnumbered five to one.

"Arty? What are you doing here?" a familiar, gruff voice asked from behind her.

She sighed. "Mind your own business, Ares," she snapped back, barely giving a glance to man wearing a motorcyclists' jacket and sunglasses.

"This is my buisness," Ares replied in a bragging voice such that one could somehow hear the smirk, "In case you haven't noticed, there's a war on," he said a little too cheerfully. But then, he was the war god, "So, let me ask again. What are you doing here, Arty?"

Artemis sighed, knowing that she could be, technically, encroaching on his domain, and therefore had to answer, "I'm on a hunt."

"Without all your little girlfriends?" the war god asked, then paused a moment with an eyebrow raised above his sunglasses, "I thought you were on vacation."

"I am," Artemis replied haughtily, still watching as Padfoot sent spell after spell through the window of the hut, slowing the advance of the hooded men to a crawl, "Which is why my hunters are not with me."

"Sounds dull," Ares commented, sounding uninterested, while the fighters in the house seemed to bring those outside to a standstill, neither side doing much other than sending the occasional spell over. "Bah, this firefight blows. I'm gonna head over to Bosnia for a while. Have fun doing whatever it is you do." And with a snap of his fingers, Ares was gone.

As soon as Ares left, Artemis refocused on the skirmish. The werewolf had joined the other man in the windows, and they were doing well with their better cover and clear skill. But quickly that proved to be in vain when a blast hit the thatched roof, setting it ablaze.

"Moony!" Padfoot cried, "Get out of there!"

The werewolf skillfully raised a shield and stepped out of the cottage as the blaze picked up, Padfoot quickly following behind. The two ran away from the attackers into the ruins of the old castle, all the while sending spells behind them to cover their retreat. Artemis leapt through the trees around the fight, watching in rapt interest as the cloaked figures changed themselves into black smoke balls and landed around the circular form of the ruins, taking positions around the fighters.

The two were impressive warriors, but there was no match for the numbers they were up against. As the werewolf sent a red spell at one of the cloaked men, knocking him down, a blue spell hit the other defender in the shoulder, eliciting a cry from him.

"Padfoot, Moony!" Artemis' attention shifted quickly to the source of the voice. The werestag stood along with four other men and woman, sending out a series of spells at the remaining attackers, pushing their assault back while he ran to his friend's sides.

The attacker fell back, unable to handle the reinforcements. The werestag dodged through the crossfire, sending shield spells out intermingled with jumps and ducks until he reached the two embattled friends. He shuffled through his cloak for a second before he held out a rope, which the others speedily grabbed.

"Portus," the man said. But at the same moment, a purple spell from one of the last attackers hit the man in the chest. The werestag screamed as the teleportation device worked, and Artemis knew in a moment he was thrown off course. She felt a cold wash of fury as her tracker charm suddenly worked once more, showing him to be about fifty miles away, his life fading away quickly. How dare they attempt to steal her rightful kill! She was the huntress, not these dirty, interloping, raping knaves!

She checked her charm once more, and saw how dangerously quickly his life was ebbing away. Before she even realized it, she was running in his direction as fast as thought. It would be a long time before she really wondered why she had done that.

* * *

James screamed. He didn't know which Death Muncher had hit him, or with what, but it hurt like nothing else. Pain like a white hot needle being jabbed repeatedly into his chest, sent him into shock, and he was suddenly aware of a sticky wetness all around his side. His hands moved instinctively to the source of the bleeding, which, he realized too late, meant he let go of the port key. James felt the tug on his navel give, and found himself ten feet of the ground and moving fast through a hay field. There was a thud on his head as he landed in the thicket, and his vision went dark.

When he regained consciousness, the pain had not eased. He opened his eyes, but his vision swam. He tried to move, but the action brought a sudden stabbing feeling that made him shudder. Eventually, he recognized a form, distinctly female, huddled over him.

"L... Lily?" He asked, his voice incredibly hoarse.

"Don't move," an elegant, authoritative voice ordered.

His eyes began to focus, and he saw the auburn haired woman kneeling over him with a dark green hood down on her cloak. He felt a flicker of recognition at the woman who had shot him, "You?" He tried to crane his neck to meet her gaze.

"I said don't move," she ordered again, a firm hand forcing him down, so he complied. There was a small flash of gold, and he felt the pain suddenly flow out of him. When the last sting had left, the woman sat up.

"What.. did you do?" James asked, trying to sit up, and finding his strength lacking, but recovering.

"I healed you," the woman answered briskly, her voice haughty.

When he was properly sat, he looked down at his chest. To his shock, it seemed as good as new, bare a few holes in his shirt. He looked back up at the woman, "Why?"

The woman studied him for a moment, but didn't answer. James tried to stand, but his muscles were still regaining strength. wincing as he collapsed slightly, he looked at the woman who seemed, upon close inspection, to be about his age, "Who are you, out of curiosity?"

"I am Artemis," the woman answered simply, meeting his gaze, and James noticed her forest green eyes which so reminded him of Lily's. They were different somehow. More otherworldly, he supposed.

James adopted a puzzled expression, "Like the goddess?" He recalled from his studies of greek mythology as a youth, as part of his pureblood education. They had been very detailed, considering the strange beliefs many of the various old families held about the origin and purpose of magic. Generally, pureblood educators felt the better safe than sorry approach when it came to teaching mythology was warranted.

The woman gave a smirk. James wondered what she found amusing, but paid it no mind, "James Potter." He said indicated himself, giving up on trying to stand and instead opting to sit on the now flattened grass. An awkward silence rained a few seconds, before James decided, "Thank you." It was Artemis' turn to look confused, but James continued, "For healing me, I mean. Even if you won't tell me why, it was kind of you."

Artemis considered this for a moment, then nodded. The moon was peering out from the clouds now, and it's glow seemed to coat her, making her faintly glow, and the strange crescent tiara she wore seemed to illuminate the area around her. How very abnormal.

"You were the one who saved Liz and Amy, right? The two girls who were running to the manor?" James asked, remembering the strange story he was told that night. There was a moment of thought before another nod came from the huntress, "Thanks for that too. They're alright now, in safe hands and all that."

The huntress narrowed her eyes for a moment, "What became of them?" she asked eventually.

"We got them out of the country," James answered honestly, "They were being chased by their father, that old bastard Goyle. They're on one of my family's old houses in France. They should be safe." He lied about them being in France. They were, in truth, in Ireland, in an old Prewitt house, but he could never be too sure.

The huntress looked slightly annoyed for a moment as if she knew he were lying, then adopted an expression of seemingly understanding and nodded, with some emotion on her eyes that James couldn't read. Without another word, she stood, turned heel and disappeared into the night.

"Yeah, nice meeting you too, Artemis, hope to see you around, feel free to pop in any time you want." James muttered as he searched around for his wand. Eventually he found it near where he landed, undamaged. He sighed, picked it up, and apparated away, all the while thinking about the strange woman he just met.

* * *

James apparated to the center of Potter Manors large living room in time to see a hysteric Lily with a frantic Remus. As soon as they heard the pop, they turned to see him.

"Er... hello," James decided after a while.

"Hello?" Lily asked. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but her expression was turning furious, "Hello? We thought you were dead!"

"Well, I'm not," James said, helpfully. Too late, he realized he said the wrong thing as Lily pointed her wand at him, "Sorry! Sorry, I was hit, and got thrown off the portkey, I had to recover before I got here."

"We know," Remus said, "I saw you get hit by what looked like a cutting curse. A nasty one too, given that it was MacNair who cast it. We thought you might still be back with the other Order members after you didn't make it, so Sirius went back."

"Sirius went back?" James asked worried as he sat down on one of the couches, "I thought he was injured?"

"We did too, but it was just a bludgeoning curse someone overpowered," Remus replied with a shrug, "By the time we left the fighting was mostly over with."

James nodded grimly, then looked at his wife who, he noticed, was still pointing her wand at him, "I'm sorry Lily, I didn't know I was going to be hit by a stray curse."

"No, you didn't," Lily countered, face flushing in rage, "All you did was go into a battle while I'm sitting here eight months pregnant..."

"Lily," James started, "I asked you after I called all the order members, and you said to go."

"I said you could go and save Remus and Sirius!" Lily snarled, "Not get yourself hit by a curse so strong it could rip you in half! Where were you?"

James sighed, "I fell of the portkey, I ended up in a field somewhere, and i was bleeding out pretty bad."

"Really?" Remus asked looking him up and down, "What happened?"

"I blacked out," James admitted, "When I woke up, I had a woman sitting over me, healing me. It was the woman from before, the one who saved the girls." James explained quickly to avoid any pregnancy hormones induced jealousy rages from Lily while looking at Remus.

"The one who showed up during the full moon?" Remus asked with a furrowed brow.

James nodded grimly, while Lily, seemingly cooling off into her normal, logical state, sent him a questioning look, "What did she say?"

"Well, for one, she said her name was Artemis," James began.

Lily raised an eyebrow, "Like the goddess?"

"Apparently," James replied with a shrug, "She didn't talk much, really. Just asked about the girls. She seemed happy that they're safe, at least, but she wasn't too thrilled that i lied about their location."

Remus looked surprised, "You told her? James, you barely know her."

"Of course I didn't, Moony,:" James replied with a roll of his eyes, "I lied, hoping that if she were a death eater we could find out for sure. I don't think she bought the bait."

Lily pondered this a moment, "You said she healed you?"

James nodded, "Yeah, I don't know what she did. I thought I was dying one moment, then there was a golden light, and I was fine." He looked down to one of the holes in his shirt, moving it around to inspect his chest, "I don't think there's even a scar."

"You were hurt that badly?" Lily asked with wide, worried eyes.

James nodded grimly, prompting Lily to put a protective hand over his, "I wish you didn't have to fight anymore."

"I do too," James responded, snuggling closer to his wife, "But the war is getting worse, and if I don't do something, more people will die."

"I know," Lily sighed, "I just wish this baby would come out so I could go with you, again."

James nodded, but said nothing. It had been odd, these last few months, not having Lily at his side. It was like there was something missing from the order of the phoenix. Sirius burst into the room shouting about how James wasn't with the others and, upon realizing James' presence, demanded answers. James sighed, it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Artemis wandered the forest where the battle the day before was fought, recreating the tactics and attacks in her mind. She was no war goddess, that was certain, but she had lead her hunters long enough to know how skirmishes were fought and won. As such, when she analyzed the tactics the forces that seemed allied with the werestag displayed, she was thoroughly impressed.

It had clearly been well planned. At no point did the reinforcing order members try and press their attack beyond their ability. Instead, they forced the enemy into smaller groups in indefensible areas, where they were then easily picked off, one at a time. Of course, most just fled at the sight of the reinforcements who, again to their credit, did not attempt to chase them. Their tactics were worthy of a child of Athena.

Having finished her surveying, she moved to the charring remnants of the cabin. Inside, she found it was divided basically into two spaces, a living area, and a kitchen area with a living room attached. She moved to the fireplace and examined the mantle. There were a set of enchanted pictures depicting the man who lived here, along with Padfoot and James and another man, all wearing school uniforms. They seemed happy, the later two holding up cleaning utensils for some reason, along with a cup of sorts, one of those decorative one mortals use to commemorate a victory. There were more pictures on the mantlepiece, all showing some combination of the four men in different stages of their lives. Clearly, these were very close friends, and potential obstacles during her hunt.

She studied the contents of the rest of the room. It seemed fairly typical for a magical house, which was odd. Werewolves rarely den so... domestically. She walked past the charred remains of the separating wall and into the bedroom, and saw something which gave her pause. There were chains, manacles actually, hooked _very_ secularly into the stone wall of the cabin. This corner of the room, Artemis noticed, was completely bare otherwise. Why would a werewolf need manacles? She'd never heard of a werewolf in wolf form keeping prisoners before, unless... Unless the manacles were for him. Perhaps this werewolf regretted his monstrosity? Resented what he was? And if he was close to James, the werestag, that is, perhaps James was... good?

These thoughts overwhelmed her, so she did what she always did when that occured: she left. As she left the house and turned away in the direction of the old castle, there was a brilliant flash of golden light behind her, which Artemis turned to face as a voice called out, "Artemis?"

"Apollo." Artemis replied curtly. Though she ever would admit it, she was glad to see him. Her twin, though terribly grating on her nerves, had always held a special place in her heart, cold though that heart may be. That said, if he started singing, she _would_ hurt him.

The sun god grinned, "Heya, sis."

Artemis scowled, "Don't call me 'sis', brother. Why are you here?"

"Aw, don't be like that, Artemis," Apollo replied, his smile revealing a gleaming set of white teeth, "I was worried about you."

"Worried?" Artemis asked with a raised eyebrow

"Well," Apollo remarked, "You've been gone for nearly two weeks. I thought maybe you had run off and gotten yourself into trouble, so I came to check up on you."

"I _am_ a goddess, brother. Two weeks is a blink of the eye, to us. I hardly need you to," she gave a sneer, " _check up_ on me."

Apollo shrugged, ever present smile still on his face, infuriatingly enough, "I hardly noticed, myself. But, your hunters showed up at my temple, said you were meant to be back a week ago, I wanted to see what you were up to."

Artemis gave him a searching look, "I'm on a hunt." she replied simply. She hardly needed to dress up her words for him, he was her brother, afterall.

"Really?" Apollo asked, "When's the last time a hunt got so interesting that you've left your hunters behind for two weeks?"

Artemis' eyes narrowed, "I believe that is my concern, and none of yours."

"Oh, I dunno," he replied wistfully, "Maybe I could tack on? It's been so _long_ since we hunted together."

"No."

"Come _on_ Arty," Apollo plead with puppy dog eyes, "What are you so excited about?"

Artemis considered his words a moment. Clearly, he wanted to know what her quarry is, though she doubted he actually wished to hunt himself, perhaps if she amused him... "If you must know, Apollo, I have encountered a new beast, a... werestag, I suppose." she said with her normal elegant and authoritative demeanor, "And don't call me 'Arty'"

"Werestag?" Apollo asked, a curious look on his face, "Like a werewolf but a stag? That's it?"

"There are... other things," Artemis admitted, not meeting his gaze, "I cannot sense his presence, and he has a strong scent of magic about him. And then there's this..." Artemis revealed the tracking charm to Apollo.

He raised an eyebrow in response, "A broken tracking charm?"

"It is not broken," Artemis replied with a glare, "He has some manor of hiding itself from my tracking charm. From sight, from everything. I'm not so sure how he does it, but I am certain that it happens."

Apollo gave a low whistle, "Sound powerful. Potentially status quo changing, if it gets into the wrong hands. One question though, why are refer to this beast as a 'he'?"

Artemis was temporarily taken aback, "Because the werestag is male?"

"No," Apollo said with a dark smirk, "I don't believe that for a second. Tell me, where is the werestag now?"

Artemis scowled, "I believe he might be on the ground of a manor he seemed to possess. I cannot access the grounds as they are protected by a blood ward."

Apollo raised an eyebrow, "A blood ward? Those things are _vile_!" He thought a moment, "Wait, is this werestag one of Hecate's chosen?"

Artemis nodded, "He seems to be. As for the blood ward, I did intend to destroy it, but I found that it was best left on."

"Why?" Apollo replied with an incredulous look.

Artemis frowned, "The wards were being used to protect the innocent: maidens. It would be against my nature to destroy that which does so."

"Sure," Apollo replied, "I believe you, sis. You sure you don't want help on this hunt?"

"I am certain, Apollo," Artemis replied with a roll of her eyes, "Now if there is nothing else, you can leave. I'm sure I can handle everything fine myself."

Apollo's smile faltered, an act that in and of itself could have stopped the movement of the heavens, "I'm not so sure."

Artemis gave a black stare at this. Her brother wasn't normally so somber. She shook off the thought, "Well, you've checked, as you so succinctly put."

Apollo gave a half-smile, which was so uncharacteristic of him it made Artemis nervous, "Aw, c'mon, don't you wanna have a little twin bond... agh!" His hand went to his forehead, and the gleam he put out seemed to dim. Artemis' eyes went wide with worry, and in a flash she was by her brother's side, supporting his weight. The sun god coughed, and choked out, "Thanks, Artemis."

Artemis said nothing, but helped him sit down on a nearby stump, her face etched with worry. Afterall, something had just stricken down a _god._ This was most... disturbing, to say the least, "What happened, brother."

"There's something wrong, Artemis," Apollo replied eventually, his face looking odd when it was etched so grimly, "Something very, very wrong."

"How so, brother?" Artemis asked, her hand going instinctively to her bow like a security blanket.

"I'm not sure..." Apollo admitted, "It's like someone is going to break the future."

"'Break the future'? You mean break the prophecies, make all the ones currently active null and void?" Artemis demanded, her voice still deadly calm, but belying some worry. Apollo was never this serious,

"No, like _break_ it," Apollo replied, his head pointed down, "Like something is going to break the timeline, and in doing so, end time." He looked around, his golden eyes weary and pained, "And it's definitely coming from somewhere around _here._ "

Artemis thought for a moment, "I will watch for any such disturbances, brother."

Apollo frowned, "I'm not sure that's wise, sister."

Artemis' eyes narrowed, "You're more than capable of 'helping' me with my simple hunt, but I can't assist you with such a major matter as the future being destroyed?"

"No, Artemis, you don't understand," Apollo replied with a shake of his head, "You should leave here."

"You presume to tell me to leave my hunt?" Artemis demanded, temper rising.

"Something's disrupting nature here, Artemis," Apollo replied, "I just think that it's a little too coincidental that you should find a _new_ beast here, now."

"How so?" Artemis' eyes were twitching dangerously now.

"It's just, things are happening that's disrupting the natural order," Apollo replied raising his hands defensively, "And don't you think it's odd that the beast's form is a stag, your symbol? I'm just saying it could be trying to trap you and destroy the timeline, somehow."

Artemis gave a dangerous glower, and spoke in a low, almost monotone voice, "I promise you, there is no such plot. I have observed James for weeks now, and I'm certain..."

"Oh, James, is it?" Apollo asked, his eyes suddenly blazing with false recognition and jealous rage, "Gotten familiar with this man, have you? Maybe he's done something to you, poisoned you somehow? Drug you so you let your guard down? Maybe I should remind him what happens to men who..."

Apollo's rant was stopped by a sudden collision of Artemis' fist with his jaw. He flew backwards directly into a tree, "How dare you?" Artemis demanded, her eyes blazing in rage.

Apollo was flat on his back rubbing his chin only to stop when his eyes widened in realization, "Sorry, I shouldn't of brought up..."

"Leave," Artemis replied, her rage plain, but her voice having a dangerous calm to it " _now."_

There was a flash, and Apollo was gone.

 **A/N**

For the purposes of this story, James lent the land around one of his old estates to Remus so he could live there. He was kicked out when the Potter's will was sealed.

I made a couple of changes to the first chapter, mostly just bringing it forward in the timeline. I've decided that Lily is on the edge of the end of her pregnancy (the story starts on July 3rd, 1993. In this world, Harry is set to be born July 31st 1993.)

As a side note, I realized how much I missed writing.

How do you guys think the characterization of Artemis and Apollo is? That conversation is what slowed this chapter down for the most part, it was just... hard to write. Right, onto responses.

Penny Lu: As it so happens, there will. At the moment, I think there will even be seven of them. Seven! That's the lowest number that can't be expressed by the sum of three natural cubes! And way larger than two, which is how many there currently are!

Wedlamzendink: Wow, high praise. I hope this chapter lives up to the last. I'm just glad anyone's willing to read it at all, to be honest.

Anna: I'm genuinely stunned to see that someone who read and enjoyed my other story got onto this one and liked it. Glad, of course, but stunned. It's good to hear from you, hope you stick around.

thunder18: Hope this is soon enough. I think I'll have another chapter or two next week, but I'm terrible at keeping a schedule, so... well here's hoping anyway

m. : I was absolutely horrified when I realized i made that mistake. I've fixed it now, along with made some minor tweaks to the last chapter, but thank you so much for the save.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Friday, July 23, 1993**

There was a green flame and a puff of soot, which when settled revealed the newly peg-legged Auror-Commander Alastor Moody's grizzled form. He turned away from the fireplace to be greeted with a wand pointing at his nose, "What is the first thing you told me after our first mission."

Alastor snorted, "I said, 'Good work, you didn't die, that's better than I expected.' What did you call Sirius Black after he got hit by a miscast joke spell in that fight?"

"'Sirius Pink,'" James replied with a smile, lowering his wand, "I admit, not my best work. Let's get to the dining room, you're the last one here."

Alastor shrugged, "There was a backup at the office. Apparently there was some dead Dragon some muggles found in the Isles. Apparently they somehow managed to kill it, not sure how they pulled it off."

"Really?" James commented, "Are you sure it was muggles?"

Alastor shrugged, "We think so. The thing wasn't killed by a spell, but the weapon they used was outdated, to say the least."

James' eyes widened in realization, "It wasn't an arrow was it?"

Moody raised an eyebrow, "You know who did it?"

"I think so," James frowned, "but we have bigger things to worry about."

The approached the warded doors to the meeting place when Moody's came sht in front of James, causing the marauder to raise an eyebrow. Moody grimaced, "James, there's been some problems recently in the department. The death eaters seem to have wisened up to our movements. It seems all too convenient for them."

"You think there's a spy in the aurors?" James asked, his face masked in shock. They were, after all, his coworkers. He knew them, trusted many of them, he couldn't believe they would betray him.

"No," Moody replied with a grim look, "I think there's a spy in the order."

James face went a little pale, "Who?"

"I don't know," Mad-Eye admitted, "But with what I'm going to say today, I need you watching, James. You're my best agent, my good eye. I need you to suspect everyone."

James agreed with a nod, and they entered through the ornate double doors in step, only to come face to face with the members of the Order of the Phoenix huddled around the Potter dining table. James moved past the bulk of members, giving nods of hello and a few muttered 'pardon me's until he sat near the head of the table next to Lily and Sirius, a few down from the other marauders.

"Good, Alastor, you're here," Dumbledore said with a jovial grin in stark contrast to the somber looks the rest of the order shared, "We can begin then, splendid. Marlene?"

Marlene McKinnon gave a nod at the headmaster, then spoke in her soft but firm voice, "Of course, headmaster. Our spies have reported that the rumors about Bellatrix Lestrange strange, months long disappearance were, indeed true."

"The bitch is pregnant?!" Sirius demanded with flame in his eyes.

"She _was_ , which you'd know if you'd let me finish, you ponce," Marlene said with a roll of her eyes. Those two had a history, "I was just saying that actually, she gave birth as much a month ago."

"Wonderful. Should we send a gift for the baby shower, or shall we continue to more pressing matters?" came a sarcastic voice from one of the crevices of the room.

Marlene sighed, "Well if you _did,_ you would not send it to a child with the name 'LeStrange.'"

Lily furrowed her brow, "You're saying the child's illegitimate? Then who's the father?"

Marlene smiled in thanks to her oldest friend for staying on topic, "The child's father is as of yet unknown, but there are many whispers flying about. Whispers that indicate that the father may well be... _him._ "

That drew everyone's attention, and suddenly the table was awash in accusations of, "How do you know?", "Is he trying to make an heir?" and one "He still has a prick? Could've sworn my castration curse hit..." from Sirius which drew a half hearted glare from Remus.

Moody stomped his cain loudly, which immediately caused silence. Marlene gave a grateful smile at the auror before continuing, "It's not confirmed, but there have been whispers of him visiting the child, and the fact that Lestrange has changed his will recently, reputedly to have the child be sole heir to their fortune should something happen to both brothers and Bellatrix."

"I say we help the kid get his inheritance earlier!" one voice shouted.

Another boisterous Order member added, "Let's kill the kid, better than having another crazy asshole trying to kill us all."

"We're not killing children!" A third shouted, and before long there was a tirade of an argument once more.

"Enough!" Dumbledore sounded, and again the room quieted, "We will not kill the child, because to do so will make us as bad as they are."

"But, sir, we can't just let the child become the next Dark Lord," a retired auror chimed in, "Perhaps we could just take the child away from those evil gits?"

"Kidnapping, Recombu? I thought even you were above that." another voice protested back.

"Before this descends once more into chaos," Dumbledore interjected, "I believe it is best we do nothing for now. Given our lack of knowledge, I would judge it better to gather information rather than focus all our attentions on a potentially harmless child. Now, Alastor, I believe you too had something to report."

Moody grunted in response and pulled out an envelope. He reached inside the package and pulled out stack after stack of papers.

James couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, "Just a little paperwork, Mad-eye?"

Alastor smirked, and then flicked his wand, sending small stacks of paper into the hands of each of the order members, "These documents contain all of the information we've gathered about recent movements involving known death eaters. They indicate there's to be an attack in Edinburgh by the end of the week," Alastor said while the various order members read through the contents of the files, "And I know they're wrong."

"What?" Recombu demanded suddenly, causing the whole order to turn to look at him, "I mean, why do you show them to us, then?" he asked quietly, his head lowered.

Moody snorted, "Because whoever they tried to have fool me did a shit job. The numbers they said they were putting up near Edinburgh don't add up with the information we know about the organization. So, we expect an attack in the near future, just not in Edinburgh." Alastor then gave a nod at Dumbledore who accepted it congenially.

"Because of the suspicions of a large attack soon, we're putting the members of the order on a tighter schedule to respond. Alastor has ordered the Aurors to prepare around Edinburgh as a..."

"James!" came a shout from the fireplace in the next room, interrupting Dumbledore's quiet words.

James quickly got up and went to answer it, "Frank?" He asked the panicked face of Frank Longbottom.

"James, Diagon Alley's under attack, get the order over here, now!" Frank longbottom demanded, then turned away.

James ran back into the dining room, where Dumbledore was going on, "...tighter schedule. We'll all have 24 hour duty for the next week, or until such an attack..."

"Diagon Alley's under attack, we have to go, now!" James shouted over him, causing the order to, as one, draw wands and stand.

There was a moment of silence where no one was certain what to do before Mad-Eye's voice broke with, "What do you think you're doing? Get to it!"

The order then moved to the fireplace in a hurry, while James ran to Lily, "I have to..."

"I know," Lily answered with a determined look, "Good luck."

James smiled and nodded, before turning to join the order members running to the fight. After the last of the order had gone through the floo, Lily looked at Alice, "Next time, we'll show them."

The equally heavily pregnant Alice gave a rueful smile, "Next time, we'll do it ourselves."

"Damn straight." Lily replied with her most innocent smile.

* * *

Artemis was walking through the forests of Oxford when her tracking charm started working again. It seemed her quarry was back where she first spotted him in his human form, the magic district in London. She grinned and ran after him. In seconds, her supernatural speed allowed her to enter the outskirts of England's first city. She ran up a car ramp, the mist cloaking her, and began jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Sure, she could just use her powers to teleport into the city, but she had inherited some of her father's flare for dramatics, and was enjoying the grandiosity of her actions immensely.

She dismounted into the alleyway with a flip and a flourish. As soon as she landed, she lowered into a fighting stance. Even if she didn't have the enhanced senses of a goddess, she could have told there was a battle underway. She drew her bow and arrow and ran into the street.

There was three of the robed figures huddled under an upturned market stall, shooting the occasional spell over the top, backs facing her. Her mind raced, calculating the optimal way to dispatch the vagrants, but she hesitated. She could hardly enter the affairs of mortals without cause, but then this group had attacked innocent maidens before and surely would again, right? Of course they would, so she was completely justified. Smiling, she knocked an arrow, and ran towards the wall besides the three. She fired thrice, and thrice the arrows hit their target, quickly incapacitating the three, though not killing them. Afterall, she still had to listen to the rules, despite how much they might disappoint her. She ran across the side of the wall and found herself at the central plaza of the alley where the fighting was thickest.

She stuck to the edges, ducking under many colored spells that collided with storefronts and exploded. She fired two arrows in rapid succession, knocking down the draping over a store and sending it down onto two hooded men below.

"What the hell?" a voice shouted. Artemis turned and saw the man called Padfoot looking around confused near her. His eyes eventually found hers, "Wait, who're..."  
Artemis saw a red spell being launched at him, and jumped and tackled him out of the way, using her bow to knock him down, making him cry, "Bloody hell!"

He landed on his back with a thud, which was quickly overshadowed by an explosion from where the spell collided with an unfortunate street lamp behind them, "Cripes!" Padfoot shouted. He shook his head and looked at her, "I don't know who the hell you are, but are you on our side?"

Artemis nodded before she thought about what that meant. Padfoot gave a smirk, "Get over there," he said indicating a nearby alley, while he stood and put up a shield spell, "We need help getting the civilians the hell out of here."

Artemis nodded and ran off, thinking about what a coincidence it is because protecting the innocent just so happened to be in her job description. She ran into the alleyway, avoiding billowing puffs of smoke and overturned tables and signs.

"Longbottom, eh?" came a voice from further down the way. Artemis turned a bend to two men in masks bearing down on a man with a shield raised in front of him, his off hand indicating to a father and daughter to hide in a store nearby, And you brought us some frien..." the man's voice was cut out by an arrow sprouting from his side.

"Bloody h..." The second man's tirade was similarly interrupted. Artemis jumped over their still-collapsing forms and onward, following the sound of screaming into the maze of alleyways.

"Who are you?" came a hysteric cry from some boy nearby.

Quieter, but loud enough for Artemis to hear was, "James Potter, we need to get you out of here."

Artemis redirected her course towards the sound. They were nestled in a back alley of a back alley, behind an ancient and withering store. The boy was saying, "They... they just killed them! My mum and..."

Artemis turned the corner and heard a shouted, "Watch out!"

Artemis' head shot towards the warning to see a spell being fired right at her. Before she could twist away, a blue-white shield appeared between her and the spell, stopping it in it's tracks. A moment later, the shield fell, and Artemis launched two knives out, each finding their mark in either lung of the fool stupid enough to cross her path.

"Artemis?" came James' amazed voice, "Why are..." Another explosion from nearby cut him off, "Damn!" He turned to look at her, "He needs to get to safety," James said indicating the young man trembling behind him, "Can you do that?"

Artemis frowned, "No, I can not."

"What?" James said incredulous, starting to run away from the sounds of explosions, the boy, who looked to be about her huntress' age, being ragged behind him, "Why?"

"It is not in my domain," Artemis replied, following the running man.

James shot her a look of incredulity, "You can save two young woman from the best killers in the Death Eater's arsenal in a few movements, heal a man on the edge of death with nothing more than yourself and a bow in the middle of the sodding _wilderness,_ somehow find me despite the noise of this bloody battle, but you can't just bring him somewhere outside the city?" James asked looking furiously over his shoulder while they ran away from the rubble and towards what looked to be a dead end, "They put up wards, I grant you, but I've never even seen you use magic, I didn't think you needed it!"

"I told you," Artemis replied, a hint of annoyance in her tone as the man continued towards what she could now tell was a false, magiced wall, "I cannot act outside my domain without cause. He is no maiden, so I cannot help him."

They dived through the wall and into what looked like an abandoned restaurant. James stopped and turned to the young man, who was looking wide eyed at all that was occurring, "Can you make it to the ministry?"

The boy nodded, "Good. Get going, and don't look back till you get there." James ordered, then turned to Artemis, "I technically saved your life, back there. Doesn't that count as a sodding _cause_ in your stupid rules?"

Artemis considered it a moment. A life debt could be served by protecting the one it was owed, and if she protected the victims of the battle James was busy saving, that could hardly be helped. She wasn't really in any danger back there, but she _supposed_ the rules could be bent a little... Just this once, "I suppose it may," she decided eventually.

James smirked, "Good, because you're bloody helpful. Let's get going."

The next half an hour was a blur. Artemis ran ahead of James, clearing out the streets while he ran into buildings to retrieve any innocents who were fleeing the crossfire. After a few minutes, they almost fell into step. It seemed that every time Artemis was about to warn him of another approaching enemy, James was already raising a shield around him and the civilian he was transporting to the restaurant. Every time she was about to make a kill, James was shielding the eyes of a child. It reminded her of ages ago, hunting with another man who seemed to know her every move, despite her godly status. She brushed the thought aside.

By the time they finished transporting the last of the bystanders, the sounds of battle stopped, and the sun had set, with the moon now appearing high in the sky. James looked around and shot a spell upwards, which hovered a moment, then fluttered back down. "Well, they finally brought the wards down." James reported with a smile, "That means the fightings over."

He scanned the ruined, burning and obliterated alleyway, and, by some miracle, stumbled upon a chair, which he moved under a streetlamp, and promptly collapsed into, "You're damn good at fighting, Artemis."

Artemis inclined her head at the complement, putting away her bow, "You fight adequately... for a male."

James smirked at the insult, "Somehow I imagine that's the closest thing to a compliment I'll ever get from you, so thank you." He sighed longsufferingly, "Where did you learn to do that, if I may ask? "

Artemis didn't answer, only sat down on a nearby rubble piece. James, pretending not to notice, continued, "It's only, well, you're clearly magical, and from your accent I'd guess you're English, and I'm not aware of any witches who take up archery."

"Indeed?" Artemis asked, with a raised eyebrow, "And you are aware of all... witches and their respective pastimes?"

"Your hesitation with the word 'witches' is interesting, but to answer your question of course not," James acknowledged, his eyes gleaming with mischief, "But most witches go to Hogwarts or know someone who went to Hogwarts, and someone with a hobby like yours would get mentioned and inevitably everyone would hear about it. Especially since you seem to be around my age."

He was right, she noticed. For whatever reason, she had been choosing an older form than normal while she was on this particular hunting venture. How... unlike her. Artemis wasn't certain why, but she was doing her best to avoid suspicion, "Perhaps I simply adopted it later than school years, or perhaps I merely didn't mention to anyone that I had picked it up."

"Maybe, but I doubt it," James replied with a smirk, "I got into enough trouble in school that I know how to lie, and when someone's lying to me. So, if you're not a witch, what are you?"

Artemis scowled at her failed attempt at redirection "Why does it matter?"

"Well, need I remind you, when we first met you were trying to kill me," James supplied, then furrowed his brow, "At least, I thought you knew that. I couldn't imagine any other reason why I'd see you in and out of animagus form, anyway, I figure you owe me for that."

Animagus form? Was he revealing the secret of his nature to her, a relative stranger? Odd, she hadn't thought he would be so rusting, unless this form of creature was commonly known and accepted? But from what she recalled, the magical communities of the world were anything but generous to creature of... less than human qualities, "As I recall, I did save your life." she replied, bluntly.

"Yes, but that doesn't count for the knowing of the animagus transformation, does it?" James asked sardonically, with a dazzling smile "Of course not. So, since you know _I_ am an animagus, and an unregistered one at that, I think it's only fair you return the favor."

"You logic is flawed," Artemis replied cooly, but then she decided on a compromise, "I will tell you what I am, in exchange for information of your own."

James put on a face of mock hurt, "My logic? Flawed? You hurt me." He smiled, "But I am just dying to know... Alright then, what can I tell you?"

"What, precisely, is an animagus?" Artemis asked, her face neutral.

"Well, I guess that confirms you're not magical, whatever you are," James commented with a thoughtful rub of his chin, "An animagus is someone who can change into an animal using their magic."

"These beasts can do it at will?" Artemis pressed.

"We're people, not beasts, and sure," James replied with a shrug. A moment later, where James was, a Stag was standing, majestically. Artemis took the opportunity to study the creature, counting the points, and observing the musculature, her trained eyes gathering vast information on what she could safely conclude was a majestic example of her sacred animal. But, there was something off... she couldn't feel this beast, despite it being of her domain. She couldn't anticipate its movements, or read its mind and issue commands, now was the beast beholden to her. It was... odd, to see a beast as all others would. A moment later, the stag was gone, and James was back. He smirked, "By your expression, I take it you approve?"

Artemis realized too late that her eyes had dilated slightly to take in more information, which gave the mortal the impression of her being in awe. She wanted to scold the man for his lewdness, but she caught the look of mischief and delight on his face, and was reminded of Apollo causing her to hesitate a moment too long. She sighed in frustration, "You make a fine stag. Perhaps it would be best you stayed that way."

"I'll take that compliment, though I'll warn you, I'm a married man," he added with a teasing smirk.

Artemis knew she needed more information before she let the subject drop, "All magic-users can transform like this?" She had obviously heard of the power to transform others into animals, but she had not heard of sorcerers ever using such powers on themselves.

"They can if they learn how," James replied with a nod, "It's not easy, so most wizards and witches never bother learning."

"And you did it because thought yourself powerful and wise enough to do so?" Artemis asked, realizing that she had been wrong about this _man_. It was obvious this one thought highly of himself, so this was clearly his way of gloating his superior intellect to those he saw inferior. How typical of a ma-

"Not really," James admitted, "I did it for a friend."

Artemis' eyebrow raised slightly, "A friend?"

"You saw him," James admitted, "In fact, when I first, er, encountered you, I was trying to save him from your arrow."

Artemis understood, "The werewolf?"

She didn't miss James' wince, "Yeah, Remus is his name. He used to have to be locked up for his transformations so he wouldn't hurt anyone," James replied, his voice more serious than she'd ever heard it before, "I was roommates with him during Hogwarts. We did some reasearch, and we found out that animals can't get Lycanthropy, so we decided to learn how to transform into animals, to keep him company during his transformations and let him run free."

Artemis blinked in surprise, "That's very... noble of you."

"I know, I know, shocking," James said with a roll of his eyes, "Well, I've revealed all of my deepest, darkest secrets. So, your turn, what makes you tick?"

Artemis frowned. She could walk away, she had no oath forcing her to answer the insolent man. In fact, for a man she knew could be so calculating, she was somewhat surprised that James hadn't asked her to take an oath to answer the question, but one look at the calculating look in his eyes made her realize the truth. James had been deliberate in choosing not to force the point, he was gagging weather she would make a good ally or not by learning if she would maintain their relatively small barter of information in the middle of a destroyed alleyway. Artemis now suspected that all of the words he said were edited and guarded, much in the same way Apollo always spoke. Athena would have a field day with this one.

"Well, I suppose it would only be fair," Artemis responded, and strangely, she meant it, "I am Artemis, goddess of the moon, the hunt, the forests and hills, protector of maidens and lady of the forest."

James raised an eyebrow, "Pull the other one."

"I am telling the truth, mortal," Artemis replied, her frustration inexplicably rising, "Or do you doubt me?"

"Well," James admitted, "You have to admit it's rather hard to believe."

Artemis' eye twitched in irritation. This mortal wishes for her to prove her godliness? Very well. Artemis looked up at the moon and raised a hand. A moment later, her chariot arrived, glowing silver and swooping into the broken and burnt alley. She smiled and pet one of the guiding stags before glancing back at James, and suppressing a smile. His eyes were bulging slightly at the sight of the magical floating moon chariot, and his mouth was gaping open.

James realized his mistake and righted himself, smiling sheepishly, "Well, I'll be damned, the Greeks got it right," he admitted, then suddenly frowned and gave a cautious look at Artemis, "Wait, does this mean you'll turn me into some animal or kill me because I looked at you?"

"I don't turn all the men who have looked at me into animals," Artemis replied with the barest hint of amusement, "Only those who irritate me."

James gave a slight nod, still looking in awe at the carriage, "Well that's good. I'd hate to have to explain that to Lily." He took a deep breath, then started chuckling.

Artemis looked at him with an upturned eyebrow. James shook his head and smiled, "It's just, well, as a little kid was taught all the crazy beliefs of the pureblood families, and the only one who liked the Greek gods were the Blacks. My mate Sirius is gonna flip."

"Is that so?" Artemis replied with a bored look.

"Sure," James said grinning, "In case you're wondering, for the Potters it's Celtic deities. Well, _was_ , I suppose I've had a change of faith, meeting a goddess and all." He gave a breath, "So, do I have to worry about smiting at all?"

Artemis thought for a moment before answering, "No, I don't think so. You are a fine hunter, I would hardly wish to deprive the world of your skill."

"I'm touched," James replied with a smile, "Well, can I ask you one more question?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow, which James took as a go ahead, "Why do you care about me? I mean, is it just because I managed to get away from you?"

Artemis shook her head, "You made for a very interesting hunt, one more interesting than I've had in years."

"You were hunting me?" James asked, incredulous.

"Of course," Artemis replied with a smile, "How could I resist? A new beast of seemingly unknown power and magic qualities? It was a treat."

James looked amazed, "You're the goddess of the hunt!" he replied amazed, "And I know you've had opportunities, I've seen how you shoot. Why am I not dead?"

"I am not permitted to interfere beyond my sphere of control," Artemis rolled her eyes, "I could only kill you while you were in your Stag form. Not to mention the Blood Wards around your home, which are _vile,_ by the way."

"Blood wards work on _gods?"_ James asked, "Well, I didn't expect that. So why didn't you shoot when I transformed a moment ago?"

James furrowed his eyebrow in confusion, "It shouldn't do...," Then his eyes widened, "Oh, I see. I didn't know it could do that."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "Care to explain what caused the charm to fail then."

James shook his head, "No, Lady Artemis," he replied with a dry chuckle, "I believe that that's one deep, dark secret I have to keep to myself."

Artemis was going to demand he answer her, to warn him about insolence, but when she spotted the smile he was wearing, the easy posture, and the warm aura he seemed to exude, she simply couldn't, "As you wish." She climbed aboard her chariot.

"Oh, Artemis," James added with a smile, "Don't be a stranger."

Artemis considered the offer a moment, before answering with a nod and tugging the reins, and the chariot launched into the sky, leaving a starstruck James watching the glistening moon behind.

 **A/N**

I'm unsure about this one, it feels slightly OOC. I'm trying to show that Artemis is getting closer to James, largely because he's earned her respect so she can lower her guard around him. Lemme know if it worked or this needs to be redone or what.

I think next chapter will be out before the end of the week, and then we'll be halfway done with this fic.

Ananonimiz: Thanks! I'll keep going

Vatsyayana69: Wow, I guess Lily's odds are looking pretty bleak, huh? I got plenty planned for Artemis, so we'll see

ww1990ww: A cesspool? A _cesspool_? That's fantastic. I'm glad you approve. As for who, you'll see, but it is not capital g God, no. That's too close to sacrilege for my comfort.

Anna: Well, I'm glad there's some approval, then! Hope you like this one, too, it's mostly war stuff.

HeirOfTheHowlingWolves: This fic won't get into the era where Harry is living with the Dursleys, nor will it get into any Percy Jackson things. I might do a sequel, but, baby steps, you know? But if so, well, you'll see what Artemis will do with Harry.

Firehedgehog: nice

Penny Lu: You really ought to read Harry Potter. I think it's a law in some states.

kababaka: I have continued!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Saturday, July 31st, 1993**

The hunt now off, Artemis did the only thing she could justify to herself: She went home. Only for a while, of course, it's not that she intended to never see James again. For some reason, Artemis had begun thinking of the ridiculous man as a friend, an oddity in and of itself. Afterall, for immortals to fall in love with mortals was hardly unprecedented, but friendship? That was almost unheard of.

Not to mention they really hadn't spent much time with one another. Or at least, James hadn't spent much time with her, but she had plenty of time hunting him. And yet he had seemed very kind on their last meeting, and that was somehow even more confusing to her.

Artemis was contemplating her peculiar relationship with James, walking out of one of her Olympian tempes when she detected a most unwelcome presence behind her, causing her to turn around with practiced annoyance, "Apollo."

"Hey, sis," Apollo said with his usual dazzling smile, "So, how was merry old-"

Artemis gave a silent thanks to her father for sounding the council bell sounding through the garden of the gods. Apollo gave what Artemis assumed was meant to be an apologetic smile, "Looks like we'll have to do this another time, little sis."

"I was born first, Apollo" Artemis replied with a roll of her eyes, then vanishing in a flash of silver light. She reappeared in her throne in the council, exorbitantly tall as protocol demanded. Why, she didn't know, but no one had been too bothered, so the tradition was maintained.

She scanned the throne room. Ares was present, as was Hephaestus, though their... shared partner, Aphrodite, was notable for her absence. Artemis always dreaded when that happened, it always devolved into bickering. Athena and Hermes were present also, as was Apollo and Demeter, who had Persephone nearby in a smaller, guest chair. There was a rush of water, and a jovial looking Poseidon suddenly sitting in the fishing chair next to the largest one. A clap of lightning, and Zeus arrived with his traditional dramatics.

He scanned the throne room one, before nodding to himself and commanding in loud, clear voice, "You may approach."

Artemis masked her surprise when the three fates arrived in the central dais of the room, behind them standing Lady Hecate. "My lord," the three bowed before Zeus, speaking in an eery, uniform tone. Hecate bowed next, with her normal holier-than-thou smirk and a searching look in her eyes, "Lord Zeus." The four righted themselves, and sat in respectful silence.

Zeus nodded, "Well, let's hear it."

"My lord," Lady Hecate began, magic glinting in her eyes, "As you may be aware, some of my people are embroiled in a conflict on the isles of our former residence, Great Britain."

Zeus raised an eyebrow, "I was."

"The mortals involved have knowledge of the gift of the prophecy," Hecate continued with a nod to Apollo, "And the fates have informed me they are soon to receive a new Great Prophecy."

"How is that possible?" Athena asked, "Given the mechanics of prophecy, surely such a feat would be impossible, as we already have such a prophecy in place."

Zeus nodded, "I, too, thought this was the case."

"Not necessarily," Apollo replied, waggling a finger with a smile, "There can be two great prophecies in a number of circumstances. Granted, it's not happened yet, but in theory..."

"Apollo," Zeus spoke with an undercurrent of anger, "Get on with it."

"Sure thing, Daddy-O," Apollo agreed with a smile, "Basically, For something to be a great prophecy, it has to affect all of the gods as well as some mortals, and it has to be divined from the Fates' power, rather than my own. Normally they only have enough 'oomph' to assign one prophecy between them, so the only scenario they could issue more than one is if something gave them more power or..."

"Or the prophecy comes for a different source," Clotho interrupted with a raspy voice.

Apollo raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, that. So, I take it someone's gone and copied your powers, then?"

The Fates looked at each other in turn, then turned back to face Apollo and answered in an odd synchronous chorus, "Yes."

"You know who?"

Another look, "Yes."

There was a moment of silence before Apollo replied with a roll of his eyes, "Well that's good then. Glad someone..."

"Who has copied your powers?" Zeus thundered over Apollo, giving him a withering gaze.

Clotho shared one more look with her sisters, "Your father, Lord Zeus."

Artemis widened her eyes and looked at her father. Zeus' hands were suddenly clenched against the arms of his throne, his face suddenly very pale. Next to him, Poseidon was sitting with an equally disgruntled expression, but his hand were going instinctively to his trident. No one spoke until Zeus rasped, "How is that possible?"

Hecate took over here, "Your father was the Lord of Time, was he not?" She didn't wait for a response, "I believe that the magic that has been wielded in the war has drawn the pieces of his form that remained on Earth towards it, and in doing so have collected and manifested."

Apollo's eyes widened, "So that's why there was interference with the timeline."

"These fragments have manifested, you say?" Athena questioned, the ever present cold, observant look in her eyes as always, "Have they chosen an avatar?"

Hecate nodded, "I believe so. It's hard to tell, as the fragments are small enough that they are undetectable beyond the overarching effects they have on the timeline, but it seems logical that they would gather to the most powerful and most evil being they could."

Artemis felt a chill in her spine, and her muscles tensed as if ready to fight. She knew who it was, of course. There was only one person, if you could call him a person, who fit that description. And if he had even a fraction of the power of Cronus it would be very, _very_ bad.

"And you believe you know who this is?" Athena questioned.

"Of course," Hecate answered, "His name is Voldemort."

* * *

The council had adjourned shortly after the revelation on Cronus' fragments, to reconvene when the looming prophecy was delivered. Artemis had been ignoring the growing feeling of dread in her chest, but decided she could no longer. She had to warn James about the power his enemy may well possess.

She appeared in the mid afternoon in front of Potter Manor and immediately noticed a change. It took her a fleeting moment to realize that the wards around the house were no longer barring her entry. They were still there, certainly, but they were allowing her entrance to the manor. She smiled slightly as she realized that James had meant what he said when he told er she was welcome.

Suddenly, she heard a shriek pierce the air. Her instincts kicked in, and she was immediately crouched down, searching for the possible disturbance that could have caused the noise while her feet brought her in the general direction of the noise. Another shriek, and Artemis noticed the sounds were coming from the manor. She frowned and kept running, listening for signs of battle, but hearing none. How odd.

The shriek was definitely female in nature, and it was definitely coming from the manor. But as far as she was aware, the only resident female was James' mate, Lily, and from Artemis' observation she was far too preg... Oh. _Oh._ Well, she had a job to do.

Artemis leapt past the edge of the woods and onto the cobblestone path that marked the edge of the woods and beginning of the extensive grounds of the manor. She rushed down the path and up one of two flanks of a dozen marvel steps that made up the ostentatious, 19th century entryway. The was a large oak door with the sigil and arms of house Potter carved into the center. She knocked quickly, then phased through the door anyway. It was, after all, the thought that counted.

"JAMES!" she could now hear clearly the cries of the woman upstairs. The woman let out a string of expletives that Artemis chose to ignore.

Artemis arrived moments later at the entryway of the master bedroom, another, ostentatious affair complete with wood-paneled walls and red, decorative wall hangings.

She knocked, but before she began phasing through the door it swung open, the Black haired man smiling behind it, "Thank god you're here, Andr..." he paused, his eyes quickly scanning her, "Artemis?"

There was another cry from Lily, and Artemis moved past the man, who still had a shocked expression on his continence. The master suite had a central room from which the bedroom went out of. There, Lily lay on the bed in the center of the room, which James apparently had the sense to remove the sheets from. James sat next to her, looking worriedly at the door as he took a series of swears and insults from his beloved wife. Artemis' form adjusted height and her clothes became sterile scrubs.

"Who are you?!" Lily demanded, her eyes wide in pain and shock.

"I am Artemis," the goddess answered, "please be still."

Lily paused for a moment, before craning forward, "JAMES," she screeched, "WHY IS A GODDESS IN OUR ROOM?!"

"Er..." James stared unmoving, his jaw locked open and his eyes wide.

"James?" Lily asked, her voice quavering a moment, "JAMES?!" Lily began thrashing about as much as she could.

"Coming, dear!" James' subconscious took over and he quickly found himself by his wife's bedside.

"Why is your goddess friend here?!" Lily demanded, before letting out a shriek. Artemis moved to examine her but she kicked wildly.

"James, please restrain her." Artemis said cooly and returned to work.

James put a restrictive arm over her, forcing into position, "Please, relax sweetie."

"Why is she here?" Lily demanded again, before a warm, silver light came from Artemis and she calmed down.

James looked up, "What did you do?"

"I've eased the pain," Artemis responded, not looking up, "She's barely begun dilating, but she's very slight."

James furrowed his brow, looking between the goddess and his wife, who was now clenching his hand, then widened his eyes in understanding, "Goddess of childbirth, right."

"Quite," Artemis replied, "I can set a spell to speed up the process, but she needs to be ready to push as soon as I do."

"Lily?" James asked his pale looking wife.

Lily pursed her lips, but nodded, "I can do it."

Artemis nodded, and another flash of light came from her fingertips. Lily screamed, James winced, and, ten minutes later, a baby cried.

* * *

"So," Padfoot, whose real name was apparently 'Sirius', asked later, "Do you regularly drop into people's homes to help them give birth?"

Artemis gave an amused smirk, "Only for my friends." she glanced at the door behind which the couple was meeting their new son, "It would have been a hard birth. Her labour would have lasted six hours and birth would have been very painful."

Sirius' face went white at the thought, "Blimey. Well, good thing you're friends with them, then. I wouldn't want to face Lily-flower after she's been _that_ kind of angry." He hesitated for a moment, "Y'know, my family always held to the greek gods."

"Oh?" Artemis asked with a raised eyebrow, "So you must be the... 'mate' James was referring to, then."

"Oh, mentioned me, did he?" Sirius, asked with a mischievous smirk, "If I didn't know better I'd think he'd be set..." he trailed off, then his face blanched, "On second thought I won't be finishing that sentence. If half of the stories about you are true, I really ought to be leaving right now."

"James mentioned something similar," Artemis noted drily, an unimpressed look on her face, "You mortals truly do seem to be devoted to making fools of yourselves."

"I more than most, if I do say so meself." Sirius suddenly beamed, "My parents must be rolling in their graves. I'm speaking to a goddess and I said 'meself'." His smile faltered, "Or they would be, if they were dead. Shame, that." Sirius thought for a moment, before asking, "So, why are you here, Artemis?" he smiled at her, "I assume you didn't just burst in here on the off-chance Lily was in labour."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "I am the goddess of childbirth, I can sense that sort of thing," though not in an are protected by a blood ward, but that was besides the point, "but you're right." Her face fell, and she looked at James with solemn eyes, "I came to warn you. Dark things are moving, and Olympus has taken notice. Believe me, the gods do not tend to notice most things."

Sirius furrowed his brow, "What's happened?"

"The fates have warned that a portion of the power of Cronus has been transferred to the one they call 'Voldemort.'" Artemis said solemnly, "Cronus, my grandfather, held dominion over time, once. While we don't believe he can manipulate power of time directly, simply the association with it has caused time to become fragile here."

Sirius digested the information, his face going first pale, then dead-set and calm, "That is bad news."

Artemis inclined her head, "I would recommend not mentioning this to James and Lily. Not today, anyway."

Sirius nodded in agreement when a familiar voice came from behind the door, "You can come in now."

Sirius beamed and practically jumped to the door, filled with childish glee. Artemis frowned, slightly irritated that she lost her only conversation partner. Not that he begrudged him the moment, of course, so she sat down in a nearby chair and waited.

Not a minute later James' voice came again, "Artemis? You coming?"

Artemis blinked. She ignored the feeling of elation in her chest, rose and walked past the door.

Lily was sat up with her back against pillows, her arms around a bundled baby, James on her left side with Sirius preening over him, "Hello," she said amicably, "Sorry about my rather... choice use of words."

Artemis waved it off, "I have helped many in birth," she said with a smile, "You are not the first to be upset by the situation."

Lily blushed, but smiled, "Thank you for your help, by the way. The healer we sent for was still twenty minutes away from arriving here."

"And whose fault is that?" James asked with a look at Sirius.

Sirius smiled sheepishly, "She said she could be by any time you needed. How was I supposed to know she couldn't be here so fast?"

"Sirius, she told you she needed time to prepare, which is why we told you..." James continued in a tone that showed he was more annoyed that he let on. Clearly, Artemis thought, he was very protective of his wife.

"James? Sirius?" Lily interjected.

"Yes, dear?" James asked, wincing slightly at her over-sweet tone.

"Shut up."

"Yes dear." James replied, cowed. Then he gave a glare at Artemis' amused smirk, "Oh sure, find amusement in my pain."

"Oh no," Artemis replied in a dry tone, "It was just that your expression reminded me of that of your other form, briefly."

James sputtered indignantly, while Lily let out a most unlady-like snort, "I'm glad someone sees past his talk."

"If you had met my brother, Apollo, you would think James tame in comparison," Artemis replied with a look of sympathy.

Lily raised an eyebrow and glanced at James, then at Sirius, then looked back and, with a deadly serious expression, "They must never meet."

"Agreed." Artemis deadpanned back.

Lily chuckled at the exchange and began gently rocking the baby in her arms. Artemis smiled slightly at a warm feeling spreading through her. It was good, she decided, to help people, especially people who you enjoyed the company of. Perhaps she ought to apologize to Apollo for mocking him for so long... But then, he never apologized to her.

Sirius, apparently dissatisfied with the view being next to James afforded him, had rounded the bed and now sat on Lily's left, looking down at the sleeping newborn, "Well, I'd say he's a handsome lad."

Lily giggled, "Oh, a heartbreaker in the making I'm sure." She smiled down on the child.

Sirius was filled with child-like glee, "I'm a godfather," he cried out with a huge smile.

"You stole my line," James countered with mock indignation.

Sirius looked up at his oldest friend, "What's his name?"

But it was Lily who answered, "Harry," she had a fond smile on her face, "Harry James Potter."

* * *

Artemis left the Potter house that night and felt a pang of sadness at the retreating feeling of warmth that seemed to permeate the place. The experience reminded her of sitting by Hestia's hearth and listening to her aunt's kind words and peaceful thoughts, and that was among the most pleasant experiences known to man or god.

It was time, however, for her to return to her hunters, as they had been too long without her. She appeared in the woods of Michigan with a spring in her step, quickly identifying her hunters' camps. She ran towards the scent of the hunt, a few seconds later appearing in a clearing with a few fires being stoked towards the center.

She leapt over the wooden palisade which marked the edge of the camp, flipping into the center with practiced ease. She arrived to be greeted by an arrow pointed directly at her. A flicker of a second later, her lieutenant was on a knee, "My Lady."

"At ease, Zoe." Artemis said easily, with a placating hand raised. Her lieutenant rose to her feet, and Artemis issued a command "Report."

"It's been quiet," Zoe answered immediately, "The drakon was quickly subdued and killed with few casualties and no fatalities. There was no real treasure it was guarding, so we decided it would be best to return where we last saw you." Zoe hesitated a moment, "We were worried about you, my Lady. We contacted Apollo," the huntress took a moment to rearrange her face in disgust, then continued, "But he hadn't contacted us back with news, save that you were at an Olympian council recently."

Artemis considered the words and eventually nodded, "You've done well."

The huntress smiled and bowed her head in thanks, then frowned and furrowed her brow, "My lady, if I may be so bold..."

"Zoe, you are my friend," Artemis said with warmth, "There is no boldness involved. Speak freely."

Zoe looked shocked at the declaration, which was fair, Artemis thought. She was not known for her bursts of warmth, but then, perhaps James was being a good influence on her. Zoe hesitated, then asked, "Where, precisely, were you? We could not sense you, and all attempts to contact you failed."

"I was on a hunt of my own, Zoe," Artemis responded, turning to inspect the slumbering campsite. For the most part it seemed to be in good condition, but Artemis could see they hadn't been planning on staying as long as they had, as the tents and supplies had been reset and rearranged a number of times, leaving oddly arranged holes broken tent poles in its wake.

"A hunt, my lady?" Zoe asked, "What did you hunt? And where?"

"I was in England," Artemis answered eventually, feeling the inexplicable glee leave her, "And I was hunting what I thought was a new sort of beast."

"A new beast?" Zoe asked, surprised, and not a little envious, though, of course, she wouldn't express such emotion to her mistress, "What was it?"

"As it happens, it was a he, one of Hecate's blessed people." Artemis answered, clear unease suddenly spreading through her, "They have apparently mastered a sort of shapeshifting oneself that is not unlike lycanthropy. The man in questioned shapeshifted into a Stag, and used magic that confused even my ability to track him. It was quite... engaging, for a time."

"So it was a false hunt?" Zoe questioned.

"At first, perhaps," Artemis acknowledged, "Rest assured, the issue is resolved now." She wasn't really certain why she had stayed so long in England, though she was glad she did. In all the long years of her life, she had never had a mortal friend before, certainly none like the Potters, who so easily and seamlessly accepted you as if you were a long missed companion. Even her hunters, though she held them dearly to her heart, lacked the warmth and kindness that the couple had.

Zoe gave a worried look, but didn't press the issue further, instead resolving ask, "What are our orders?"

"Gather the hunters. We must return to Olympus soon," Artemis replied, getting a determined look in her eyes, "There has been word of foul things stirring, and I must be there to witness the proceedings."

"Of course, my Lady" Zoe moved to the tents, quickly rousing hunters from their slumber. Artemis summoned her chariot from the sky, and it landed gracefully on the center of the field, transforming into a long bus to accommodate the hunters, who boarded in short order.

Artemis took the wheel the moment the campsite cleared, and went to the skies as dawn broke over the horizon. It was a peaceful journey over the Great Lakes, until, that is, Apollo drove past in his own chariot, which was currently the form of a modern, bright red ferrari, and pulled alongside hers.

"Hey, sis," Apollo called cheerfully, "You headed to Olympus?"

Artemis sighed, "As it so happens, I am."

"Sweet," Apollo replied with a dazzling grin, "Me too. Hey, you should probably speed it up."

Artemis raised a wary eyebrow, "Oh? And why's that?"

"Well, the Fates just told me that the big bad prophecy's gonna be delivered in the next, oh, half hour or so," Apollo replied with wink, "Wouldn't wanna miss it." With that, he promptly stepped on the gas and his convertible-formed chariot zoomed beyond the horizon.

Artemis scowled, "Brace yourselves my hunters, my brother just made this ride slightly less enjoyable." With that, she pressed down on the accelerator herself, and the world zoomed by. Moments later the arrived over the Temple of Artemis in Olympus, and Artemis leapt out, giving a small hand gesture for the Hunters to follow.

The followers of Artemis trailed behind her, keeping pace with their mistress to the entrance of the throne room. She gave a hand gesture, and the Hunters save Zoe waited behind, while Artemis appeared in her giant form on her throne and the lieutenant dutifully made her way to the observing area opposite the U-shape of the thrones of the of gods.

This time around, word clearly had spread to the other Olympians of a looming prophecy. The others were all assembled, even Dionysus had apparently obtained permission to attend this function as the wine god was twirling a vine boredly in his hands. Hades was absent, of course, but she saw the form of a Harpy in the waiting area, no doubt to report back to her master on the occurrences at this meeting. In the central dais stood the three fates and Hecate, who seemed to be working on some spell which was cloaking the floor in a dark vapor.

Zeus appeared again in his melodramatic lightening flash, and looked at the gathered sisters, "How much longer."

Hecate answered smoothly, "Shouldn't be much longer at... ah, here we are," she said glancing at her spellwork. The smoke on the floor congealed and formed into a black, liquid mirror, which then showed an image of an old, wooden tavern. The furnishing was old and worn, the fire was dying down in the hearth, and against the single pane windows rain pattered down from a gray sky.

Sitting at one of the tables, which came into focus quickly, was a bearded, elderly man who radiated power, and a scrawny, trembling woman who seemed to have eccentricity built into her persona.

"I'm so sorry, Sybil but you simply don't have the qualifications" the old man said, an apologetic look on his face

"B-but, sir," the woman replied, clearly nervous, "It's always been my dream to teach children..."

"A wonderful dream, my dear Lady," the old man said with a gentle smile. Behind the counter another man appeared, old and similar looking to the one at the table, with a wand drawn. The first old man gave a slight hand wave to the other, and the other lowered his wand.

The woman looked pleadingly at the old man, "Professor Dumbledore, _please._ "  
"I so sorry, my dear Sybil," the man repeated, clasping hands with the woman. Suddenly, the woman's grip tightened on the Old Man's hand until her knuckles went white. Her eyes went vacant, and her head hung backwards. Dumbledore looked perplexed, "Sibyl?"

" _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..._ " the woman spoke in tandem with the three sisters sitting in the throne room, " _born to those who have thrice defied him,_ " in the periphery, the other old man suddenly noticed something in one of the windows, and raised his wand again, " _born as the seventh month dies..._ " the other man cast a muffling charm on the room, while Dumbledore still sat entranced in front of the woman, " _and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..._ " The woman let out a gasp, and fell face first onto the table, releasing her grip on the old man.

The old man blinked, "Sibyl?"

"Oh, Professor," the woman said, looking at him as if they were just now meeting, "I'm sorry, were you saying something."

The man calculated for a moment, then replied, "Yes, my dear Sibyl, I believe I was just going to congratulate you on earning your new position as divination teacher."

"Oh!" the woman seemed surprised, "Did I get the position?"

"Of course, a woman with your skill in the field should not be overlooked," the man said with a twinkle in his eyes. The scene lingered for a moment longer, then the pool disappeared, and the smoke dissipated.

The room was silent a long moment. Apollo scoffed, "Well, that didn't even rhyme! I hope you're happy," he gave a pointed look at the fates. The sisters merely bowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hermes whistled, "Was it just me, or was that one more dramatic than normal?"

"I think it was the lack of rhyming," Dionysus commented boredly, though Artemis could see his interest in his eyes, "Maybe you should take notes, Apollo."

Apollo gave a look of indignation, "I'll have you know the rhyming is the most important part! It brings the whole thing together!"

"Rhyming or not, this prophecy definitely stands out," Athena interjected before anyone could interrupt, "I dare say it's even less clear than normal. Not to mention its use of dramatic phrasing, which I for one find quite impertinent. Notice how it names no gods, and yet there is no doubt it is a great prophecy."

"It definitely centers around this 'Dark Lord' figure," Hermes said, his hands hurriedly texting while he spoke, "Anyone know who that's meant to be."

"Our father, perhaps?" Poseidon said, looking at his brother, "Or this 'Voldemort' who captured some of his essence."

"I doubt it was father," Zeus replied, "The prophecy seems to indicate that this Dark lord will be vanquished, which wouldn't make sense. And I believe that this Voldemort has been referred to as a Lord, has he not?"

"On the bright side," Apollo chimed in with a smile, "It definitely implies that this Dark Lord will, indeed, be vanquished, so that's comforting."

"No, it says that he merely will be capable of being vanquished," Athena replied, "Thus the: neither can live while the other survives. I think what's more important is this question, what power does this 'Dark Lord' not know of?"

"Perhaps the strength of the gods?" Ares asked, "Maybe we're meant to stomp out this punk ourselves."

"Unlikely," Athena countered, "gods do not interfere with the lives of mortals often, besides, which of us would be the one with the power to vanquish him specifically?"

"Maybe it's the power of cereals," Demeter said, hopefully, "Agricultural sabotage is more than enough to topple a government, and any Dark Lo..."

"Well, which of us was born at the end of July?" Dionysus asked in answer to Athena's query.

The gods looked between themselves, all doing calculations to answer the question. Eventually, Hephaestus answered, "None of us were."

"There you go," Dionysus said, leaning back in his chair, "clearly it's not one of us. And given that we would have to be 'approaching' and 'marked as their equal', I doubt it's a god at all. And I can tell you it's none of my children, either. I don't know about all of yours" He added with a shrug.

"I have one who just had a birthday," Hermes replied, "But, while I can't say anything about 'equal', I can't think of why they'd be 'approaching'."

"It does call into question what 'approaching' could mean," Poseidon remarked rubbing his chin.

"I thought that was obvious," Athena commented with a roll of her eyes.

Poseidon grimaced slightly, and seemed to take a calming breath before asking, "Would you care to share your thoughts, Athena?"

Athena rolled her eyes again, "Well, it could either mean someone approaching the general or exact location of the prophet, which means either, as you said, a new arrival in the country, a new arrival at the locale they were dining, or, as i suspect is the case, a new born."

Hera raised an eyebrow, "A babe? That's our great, prophesied hero?"

"Prophecies rarely care for your opinion on the matter," Athena replied, drily, "But yes, it would make the most sense."

Apollo raised an eyebrow, "Anyone have a newborn child they care to tell the class about?"

The Olympians all looked between themselves. All, except Artemis. She was doing all in her power to seem calm, seem at peace with the world, and it was taking the vast majority of her willpower. Because she had figured out the prophecy as soon as Athena had mentioned the possibility of a newborn. No, she knew as soon as she first heard it, but she hadn't wanted to believe, refused to believe it was true.

For the first time in memory, Artemis felt fear. Fear for her new friends from the prophecy that now loomed over their heads. Fear at the loss of the sanctuary she had discovered in their home. Fear for the babe that she had held in her arms not a day before. Fear for the innocence of the day that was threatened by the tides of war.

She had to warn them.

Zeus cleared his throat, "Well, there's only one thing that is certain then. If this prophecy is to work out in all our favor, we must not interfere."

 _Di Immortales._

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, planning his war. He knew what was at stake, he knew the lines of battle, and he knew the rules of engagement. Or at least, he did. Now all that's been thrown in flux, and as the leader of the light, he had to bring order back.

His gaze was drawn to the pensieve in the corner of his room, and particularly to one, indistinguishable vial on the shelves which had been viewed and reviewed a score of times this night. He glanced at the reports on his desk, the reports of immigrations and visitations of wizards to England. They had been sparse to say the least, and entirely unhelpful. So his gaze was drawn with growing dread at the listings of births, and the two names circled there.

He sighed. Leading a war had not grown any easier, even this many years after Grindelwald's dread reign. He stood up and went to the fireplace, his hand going to the small tray of powder on the mantle. He threw them into the flames, pronouncing, "Potter Manor, Main Room." and sticking his head in.

"Professor Dumbledore?" James asked, surprise plain in his tone

"James," Dumbledore replied grimly, "I'm afraid I have terrible news."

 **A/N:**

So, this one was kind of an accident. I kinda got carried away with the fluff, so some really, major plot point got pushed into next chapter, and this whole story is now one chapter longer. I hope you like what I've done here, though. I really tried to make it clear that Artemis had befriended the Potters, and that they've accepted her as their new, odd, goddess friend. I also wanted to make it clear that Artemis was becoming both protective of them, and getting something for he help. It's meant to be a mutually beneficial relationship, here, and I think it kinda worked.

Don't worry if you found this a little too happy-go-lucky, it won't last.

ahmar khan 7: I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and your commentary is very nice. Somewhat MST3k, which is high praise, in my opinion

Wedlamzendink: Well, now you have to respond to a response to a response to a response to a review, so good luck with _that._ I am glad you're enjoying it though, and I hope you like this chapter, too.

Umbra Venator: Thanks! Hope you don't mind a few fluffy moments.

amata0221: James/Artemis, huh? I think that would be a contest to see who strangles who first.

Thundramon: So right off the bat I can 100% guarantee that this story will not get into Harry's childhood beyond infancy. Just won't happen. Maybe there'll be a sequel, maybe not. We'll see. Also, thanks for telling me about the characters, that's really important to me, and I don't want anything to be too weird for anyone. As for killing off James, well, no matter what, it won't be easy for him, you'll see (I hope).

Vatsyayana69: That's mostly true, and a good thought to have while the story continues. A lot of the plot is built around that central idea, so it's good.

HeirOftheHowlingWolves: It was a good idea, though. Any future sequels will be based entirely on my ability to keep up personal interest, as well as weather or not I decide to do in any major characters.

Penny Lu: This review made me very, very happy. Seriously, it was like the ultimate rave review, it just made my day. Thank you

guest: You're right. I don't like it, but you're right. I'll fix it as soon as I get a chance.

jedielfsorcerer: That's a whole lot of dots you got there. You trying to imply something, buddy?

Firehedehog: NICE!

Anna: Thank you!

ww1990ww: I'm not surprised, so much as in awe of the simple scale of your vehemence on the point. Your diction is without equal, good sir or madam. As for your point on the wankery of my fellow writers, I wouldn't be nearly so harsh, if only because I imagine a lot of them to be on the younger side of things, and as a result just haven't developed enough to push their own writing skills that much. True, it does produce a lot of "simple" crossovers, where it's basically just one character being brought from one universe to the other with little to no actual changes to the plotline, but I think that's alright, so long as it produces better writers in the long run. To be honest, sometimes even that kind of story can be very good, so long as it's written in a way that reflects real emotions on the part of the characters involved (Harry Potter and the Ascension of Ra is a fine, albeit unfinished example).

I was unaware the Riordan had any intention of utilizing Ol' Scratch as his main antagonist, but I find it immensely amusing. If there is a sequel, or, more likely, a sequel to a sequel's sequel of this story, Lucy and co. may well show up, if only because I'd be running out of ideas at that point.

And finally, yes, they are gonna be close to Harry, at least temporarily. I think i had more to say when i started writing this response, but honestly I've forgotten it. It's like midnight, so please, forgive me.

m j readings : Well, I hope you like how much the relationship is developed here!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Saturday, August 14th, 1993**

Artemis exited the meeting as casually as possible. The Olympian Council had been deliberating what precisely to do for two weeks, now, and Artemis was beginning to worry that she would never be able to warn the Potters in time, let alone help them protect themselves. Nothing had really been accomplished, of course. Mostly the whole thing had devolved into bickering and arguing over grievances so old no one was entirely sure who or what started them, but felt strongly about them regardless.

It was only her beloved, blessed, and delightful aunt Hestia who broke apart the arguing by suggesting in her serene way that the council take a short break. Zeus, who had been in the middle of shouting down Ares for his constant war-mongering had demanded that the gods not leave olympus, insisting that they would reconvene in three days time. Artemis, of course, had no intention of listening.

She immediately went to her temple, knowing that she needed to inform her hunters of the situation. As she entered the columned foyer, she was immediately confronted with a bowing group of maidens and a swarm of ''My Lady's'.

"Zoë, to me," Artemis ordered, not pausing on her way towards the center of the temple, which she was certain would be deserted.

The huntress followed her, head bowed down. When they arrived in the center of the temple, Artemis was quick to impart orders, "You must lead the hunters and leave soon, Olympus will not be safe."

Zoë raised an eyebrow, "Olympus is under siege?"

"No," Artemis replied, shaking her head, "But I will be leaving soon. Should the other Olympians find out, you will be in danger. That I cannot allow."

"Of course, my lady," Zoë replied, but uncertainty was painted on her face.

Artemis studied her a moment, "What troubles you?"  
Zoë hesitated, "Why, precisely, are thee departing, my lady? Thou hast heard of thy father's ordinance against thy departure."

Artemis paused, "There was a prophecy issued. One which brings grave danger to certain mortals should it be allowed to come to pass. More danger than even a hunter could handle on their own."

Zoë looked confused, "Why should that matter, my Lady? This sort of thing has happened before, and thee have not done anything to help. At very least send one of the Hunters in thy stead."

"Because these mortals happen to be my friends," Artemis admitted to her most trusted companion, "And I could not bear for such a thing to happen to them. I am the goddess of the wild, Zoë, I am not one to be cowed by rules."

Zoë's eyes widened in shock, "Thou hast befriended mortals, my Lady?"

Artemis pursed her lips, "Yes, I suppose I have. Perhaps one day I will take the hunters to meet them, but not until this danger has passed."

Zoë was dutifully confused, but she nodded, "I admit, I am curious as to what could these mortals could have done to... entertain thou so."

"And perhaps you will learn it yet, my hunter," Artemis replied with a small smile. She looked around the empty room, and her face went back to its serious demeanor, "Wait here for a day, then lead the Hunters to Chiron, you will be safe there."

Zoë made a face at the thought, but answered nonetheless, "As you wish, my Lady."

"And Zoë?" Zoë turned to face the pensive goddess, "Be careful, foul things are about."

Zoë gave a short nod. Artemis turned away. With a flash of light, she was gone.

* * *

Artemis arrived in the middle of the woods of England a moment later. She looked at the sky where the sun was now setting, and wondered idly why it seemed she always meet the potters under the cover of darkness. No matter, she had to get moving.

She turned towards the manor and almost took her first step when a flash of light appeared in front of her, and the sunny face of Apollo materialized, "Heya sis."

Artemis' heart dropped to her stomach, "Apollo," she acknowledged icily.

Apollo's grin dropped, "Listen, we need to talk."

"If you're here to try and dissuade me from warning them, it won't work," Artemis replied cooly. She had little tolerance for beating around the bush.

"Just hear me out," Apollo plead, "The fates were lying about the state of reality."

Artemis stopped, "You mean they lied about... _his_ fragments reforming to father?"

"No, of course not," Apollo replied, "Or... they didn't lie per es, they just..." Apollo sighed, "Look, it's just really important that you don't go into that house right now."

Artemis snorted, "And why is that, Apollo?"

"Because it makes everything worse... argh!" Apollo's knees buckled, his hands clutching his head. Artemis did not go to his side, this time.

"Worse how?" Artemis questioned cooly, angry that her brother would put her friend's lives in jeopardy.

"Worse for you! You know I can't see prophetically anymore but i can still just _tell.. Agh!_ " Apollo cried out in agony, "Artemis, stop being stubborn. You need to return to Olympus."

Artemis' green eyes flashed dangerously, "I needn't do anything, brother."

Apollo chuckled mirthlessly, "You're acting like a child, Artemis."

"Quite a thing for you to say, brother," Artemis countered, "given the lengths you are going for your jealousy."

"Jealousy?" Apollo roared back, "You're being ridiculous. I don't know what that mortal boy did to..."

"Speak carefully, brother," Artemis' voice lowered to a dangerous whisper, "Before you say something you will regret." Apollo winced from the pain of reality reordering itself, but remained silent. Artemis snorted, "Very well, then I'll be on my way."

"Artemis, you can't do that," Apollo replied wearily, still clutching his head.

"In fact, brother," Artemis replied, pushing past the sun god as she did, "I can."

There was another flash, and Apollo appeared in front of her again, one hand still at his forehead, "You don't understand, sister, you _can't_ go in there."

Artemis stopped again, her mood getting steadily worse, "Oh? Then _do_ explain, brother, why it is I cannot do something I have been as of yet all too capable of?"

"Artemis, please," Apollo plead, "I can't tell you what happens if you keep going, but please, don't go."

Artemis looked at her brother's desperate eyes, and felt a small pang of pity for her sibling. But her friends needed her, "I must, Apollo."

With those words, Artemis stepped over the boundary of the manor. Behind her, Apollo shook his head and muttered, "I'm so sorry." There was a flash of yellow light and a wave of heat, and he disappeared.

Artemis glanced back at the scorched earth where her twin was standing moment before, frowned, and walked towards the path to the house. She got to the beginning of the path when James' voice cried, "Artemis?"

"James," Artemis replied with a slight smile, that being the only indication of her joy to see her friend.

James lowered his wand, and his body seemed to relax, "Sorry, can never be too careful."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "Quite."

"Artemis?" Lily's voice broke through the silence of the night.

"Lily," Artemis greeted kindly as the woman went through the door of the manor house and walked halfway up the path to meet with her friend and husband, "It is good to see you well. How is Harry?" Artemis asked, hiding shock in her own ability to remember the name of some mortal babe she held but once. My my, how things change.

"Harry's good. Quietest baby I've ever heard of," Lily commented with a warm smile.

"That's a relative term," James muttered under his breath.

Lily raised an eyebrow, "Gripping, dear?"

"No, no," James replied with his best innocent smile, "Nothing of the sort.

There was a comfortable silence for a moment, before James asked, "So, why are you here, Artemis? Not that you're not welcome, but, well, goddess and all..."

Artemis hesitated a moment, "There was a prophecy made, one that reached the ears of Olympus."

"I believe we heard it," James replied grimly, "You think it applies to us, too, then?"

Artemis nodded, "I fear that it does. That fear was all but confirmed when I arrived here and my brother tried to warn me against telling you."

"Apollo? The sun god?" Lily asked, bewildered, "That explains the sudden heat wave and the flash."

James sighed, "We'd been told the prophecy by our old headmaster, Dumbledore."

Artemis nodded knowingly, "The old man, with blue eyes, correct?"

James' eyes widened, "Yeah, that's him. You know him?"

"The Olympian council witnessed the prophecy being told," Artemis replied, "He was present, as was another who resembled him closely."

James considered this a moment before nodding, "Makes sense, I suppose. I doubt the gods like to be left out."

"Indeed we do not." Artemis replied, with a grim look.

James rubbed his chin, "Regardless, if even you think we're the ones involved, perhaps it would be best if we were to move out. If we stay here and Harry's put in danger..."

Lily's eyes looked downcast, "I think you're right. We have to do what's best for Harry." her eyes turned thoughtful then, "But there is something I don't quite understand. Why would Apollo try and make you turn back if we already knew the prophecy?"

"My brother does many illogical things," Artemis replied, "Though he did seem rather insistent on the point. And, though it pains me to admit it, as he _is_ the god of prophecy, he would rarely miss something like that..."

James shrugged, "Maybe he just thought we didn't know, or maybe the blood wards were causing interference. You said they stopped gods before, right?"

"They stop us from physically manifesting, but I don't believe them to stop our powers," Artemis answered, "I truthfully don't know..." Artemis' frowned, "Which worries me."

"Well, we can't do anything about it now, so we might as well..." James stopped mid sentence and sharply turned to look at a point on the edge of the grounds, "Something's taken down the wards."

Lily suddenly looked alert, "Where?"

"North side, maybe more in the west, we have to get out of here," James replied as the couple drew their wands, "Damn, they put up anti apparition wards."

Lily looked at James with panicked eyes, "James, we have to get Harry!"

Artemis looked at her friends, "I will save the child."

"We're not leaving without Harry." James declared, his eyes worried.

"Then stay here, I will return soon," Artemis replied cooly.

Lily glanced at James, then nodded, "Good luck."

Artemis nodded back and started to run, the sound of spells beginning to whizz through the air.

James quickly raised a shield in front of him as the first round of spells began being shot at them, "Damn, they found us quick."

Lily frowned, and sent of three spells in quick succession. They collided with the trees nearest them, causing their limbs to sag down and provide a degree of cover for the couple. Lily ducked quickly behind the impromptu barricade, James following shortly after, "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Now's not the time," Lily replied, shooting a stunner at the nearest opponent.

James smirked, sending off an explosion which knocked down another group of opponents, "Yes, dear."

The husband and wife duo fought against the half dozen death eaters with astounding skill. They traded positions, weaving from side to side behind their makeshift-bunker, and quickly it was the Death Eaters who were taking cover behind the trees and bushes of the Potter Grounds.

James couldn't help himself: he smirked. God (Er... sorry, god _s_ ) he missed fighting like this, Lily at his side or, more frequently, he at Lily's side... It was enough to make him

James continued sending off spells, trying to keep the main force of the attacking wizards away from them, when out of his periphery he caught site of a spell colliding with the side of the manor, "Lily, they're attacking the house."

Lily glanced back at him behind a shield, "They must be after Harry."

James glanced at the besieged manor, before turning to Lily, "You cover, I'll shoot?"

Lily nodded, and the couple ran down the path, fighting like demons all the way.

* * *

Artemis closed the distance around the house quickly, only stopping to open the door as quickly as she could without breaking it. Apparently, the death eaters had already broken in. Pity.

There was one searching the foyer, sending spells into the beautiful furniture in the room. Artemis felt rage well up in her. How _dare_ they destroy this home? This place of warmth? A throwing knife ended his atrocity in a whisp.

She flipped over the collapsing body of the man and climbed up the stairs to the main hallway, careful not to go so fast as to damage the steps. Afterall, her friends had enough to worry about. The hall was scorched in some areas, many doors having been blown off their hinges, and much of the elegant furnishings on the long path were upturned or broken. Artemis gritted her teeth in anger, but forced herself to ignore it. She had to find the child.

"In here!" a voice called out, " _Avada..._ "

"Stop, you idiot!" came a different voice, this one distinctly female, "The Dark Lord will be here soon!"

The voices were coming from the master suite. Of course, the Potters would not want to be separated from their child, how foolish of her to think otherwise. Now, to save the child.

She snuck into the central conjoining room, taking care to check first for any more potential intruders. She went right, into the nursery where two robed figures were standing over a cradle, which seemed to be the only thing still in order in the room.

"The Dark Lord wants him dead, right?" the man asked, his wand raised, "Might as well take care of it now. _Avada..._ "

" _Crucio!_ " the woman's spell was much faster than the man's, colliding with him and sending him into agonized writhing on the ground. The woman chuckled, "Oh Rabby, you really should know better."

"Bitch!" the man said through clamped teeth, "Fucking whore! Cheating bitch!"

" _CRUCIO!_ " the woman shouted, sending the man screaming. Then with a sardonic smile, "What was that, Rabby, dear?"

The screams of the tortured woke Harry, who added his own cries to the sound. Artemis had seen enough. She dream an arrow, aimed, and loosed in a flash, cutting of the pained mans screams. She drew and shot her second, which collided with a hastily raised shield from the woman.

"Ruddy hell!" the woman cried, "Sevy, darling, come here!" she yelped while taking cover behind a nearby overturned table, "NOW!"

Artemis ignored the woman and walked to the cradle where the babe was wailing. A green spell came at her side, which Artemis answered by quickly drawing a knife, blocking the light and sending it cascading away. The woman looked wide eyed, "Bloody hell!"

She gathered the child in her arms, giving a cursory glance at the woman before deciding not to bother. She would only slow her down. Artemis walked carefully, keeping the babe's head supported and body bundled. "Bella?" came a different man's voice from the room opposite the nursery.

Artemis leapt gracefully around him, her leg jutting out for a second to hit his side, sending him sprawling over. She moved carefully out of the master suite, not pausing to look at the man wailing behind her. The hallway was empty as before, but the cries from the other room were echoing down its length, "What do you mean she got past you? She was carrying a bloody baby!"

"I don't know," the man was saying through clenched teeth, "Send the damn signal!"

Artemis arrived at the bottom of the staircase after a careful descent and quickly made her way out of the door. Outside, spells were crisscrossing the grounds of the manor, and Artemis recognized her friends approaching the side of the manor. Lily was sending a series of charms in quick succession, each wand move leading to the the next, while James sent spells out causing explosions and flashing lights. Artemis spared a moment to admire their teamwork. It was effortless, like they had known each other for years and been raised specifically for this purpose, which, Artemis reflected, was likely not far off the truth. She knew all about Hogwarts and the education offered there, so this was hardly surprising.

Suddenly there was a pop and Artemis felt a cold presence enter the grounds of the manor. James glanced at Lily with a worried look, " _He's here._ "

Lily nodded grimly, and Artemis suddenly realized what was going to happen. The one they called Voldemort had just arrived, the one who was prophesized to be defeated by the babe in her arms. The most powerful wizard in the world, one it would take a god to kill, but because of the prophecy, no god to could interfere, to do so would be against rules so ancient and reverent not even her father would go against them. Her friends were facing extreme danger, and she could do _nothing._

Artemis pulled the mist around her and hid. She couldn't fight the man, but she could protect the child in her arms in any way we she wished.

"James Potter," came a serpentine voice from the newly arrived man with pale skin, "Where is the boy?"

James answered with a curse that whizzed through the air with startling speed. The pale man flicked his wand and the spell darted away, blasting a nearby tree to splinters, "Pity."

Voldemort began his attack, and even Artemis had to admit: he was impressive. James and Lily's spells were fearsome, to be sure, but they simply couldn't hold a candle to his. Every spell James shot, every charm Lily cast, the pale man just cast aside as if it were nothing. Even the death eaters, foolish as they frequently were, knew better than to be anywhere a spell that ricocheted off of their master's wand might be. Most that remained in the grounds left altogether, a few staying far back, watching the light show.

Despite Voldemort being outnumbered two to one, and despite the amazing skill the Artemis saw the couple employing, they were still being pushed back. Artemis felt a chill run down her spine as she realized the horrible truth: her friends were going to die.

She couldn't allow that, she _wouldn't._ She could intervene, but... it was risky, and she risked interfering with the most ancient of laws. She gritted her teeth, and watched as a curse from Voldemort's wand just barely missed James' leg. She had to do something. But what could she... ah.

Throwing caution to the wind, she summoned her powers and channeled a portion of her strength into Lily, still clutching a now whimpering Harry to to her chest. She paused a moment, evidently feeling the added strength well up in her. Then she struck. Her spells were faster, his accuracy better, and their power was staggering. Within moments, the tide turned.

" _Stupify!_ " Lily casted, which hit Voldemort's shield, blasting a portion away, " _Relashio!_ " the next spell followed through the hole in his shield, and the Dark Lord had to duck to avoid it.

The man's red eyes widened in realization of his inferior strength. He sneered and began sending off a series of explosive spells, each one sticking the ground and bring up great clods of earth. When the dirt settled, the man had disappeared.

Lily exhaled, and James was looking at her wide eyed, "Lily?"

"I... have no idea how I did that." she admitted eventually, then she looked around, "Where's Artemis."

Artemis uncloaked herself, Harry still in her arms, "Here," she answered. She slowly withdrew her strength from the woman.

"Oh thank Merlin," Lily sighed in relief at the sight of her child, "Was that y-"

" _Avada Kedavra!"_ a shrill voice rang through the battlefield. A green light raced up the long path to Potter Manor, and enveloped Lily in a cloak of emerald.

 **A/N**

...oops?

(Before anyone asks, yes, she's dead.)

Right so, apologies, this was very difficult to write, and I'm still not happy with it, but, uh, it's what i got and I'm too scared to put it off anymore. Also the response i got from last chapter was great, seriously, you guys rock. Hope you enjoyed this one. We're almost done with this story now, just gotta sort out the next three chapters, so I'm hoping we're done by the end of the year but no promises.

Umbra Venator: Thanks, I hope you don't hate me for killing off Lils.

mhdluqman: I'm glad you find it interesting. I sort of envision this whole thing as a prequel to Harry's adventures, which I might write or might just let anyone who wants take over from the ending.

ww1990ww: I can understand that, and i would advise you best avoid reading them. I admit, there are quite a few of them.

To be honest I haven't kept up to date with Riordan's other series, so I wouldn't know anything about it. I like Lucifer as a character in stories, but I'm most partial to the interpretation Neil Gaiman uses in Sandman (Which if you don't know, you should read they're _amazing_ )

I hope you got your problems with Artemis addressed here. If it wasn't clear, it's her pride and love for her new friends which is preventing her from just letting the hunters deal with it, to disastrous consequence.

Titania: I'm glad you like it, though to be honest I was surprised this crossover didn't already exist. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed rather obvious (I mean, we have Harry as the son of Artemis, but never any reference to how James and Artemis met?) As for all your questions, they won't be answered in this fic, if there is a sequel they'll be there. To be completely honest, I have no idea what I'd end up doing in regards to most of those, at least at this point, but it certainly gives me stuff to think about, so thank you.

amata0221: Thanks!

rickyp01: I have no idea how to respond to this review. I mean, I can't lie, you're totally on the right track. I have no idea how you noticed I did that when I had to have a sticky note on my monitor to remind me, and I wrote it. The only thing I can think to add that'll keep your brain juices flowing is why, precisely, Aphrodite would be doing all that, you know, what's her game plan, but yeah, you got it, man.

davycrockett100: Thanks!

Vastyayana69: I have the gnawing suspicion that you might be ever so slightly annoyed about the direction this fic has taken, based on this review. I apologize.

m j readings: Thanks, I really loved playing with that idea. I always thought of Artemis as the type of character who needed that, who just distanced herself so much from humanity despite being one of the more human Olympians, she craves the warmth of family that common humanity has. (Also it gives her something in common with Harry, at least in the canon, cuz he sees his parents as a source of warmth and comfort, so they share that now.)

darkworkangel: Well, now Lily's not alive, so anything goes!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Sunday, August 15th, 1993**

Lily's corpse hit the ground with a low thud. For a long moment, everything was still.

James ran to his wife's side and fell to his knees. His eyes were wide in horror, and speckled with the beginnings of tears. "No..." he muttered, barely audible under the cacophony of giggles, "No!" He let out an agonized scream that echoed into silence.

Then the silence was broken by hysteric, mad laughter. James looked up from his wife's body, "Bellatrix."

"'Ello, luv," the mad woman laughed, "Sumpin' got you down?"

"Lily?" a new voice pushed from behind Bellatrix. "Lily?" it asked again, and from the darkness the form of Severus Snape was revealed, "Oh my god!"

James raised his wand at the two, his vision blurry with tears, "GO TO HELL!"

"Lily!" Severus cried and started running towards her fallen body

James snapped, " _Avada..._ "

He was cut off by Severus form falling to the ground, a knife protruding from his back. James looked at the bush near the entry where Artemis, carrying Harry in one hand and the other raised from the motion of the knife, looked devastated. James quickly snapped his wand at Bellatrix, who was still standing in the doorway.

"Toodles!" she cackled madly and morphed into a puff of smoke, flying into the night and sending out the Dark Mark over the manor.

Artemis watched as James collapsed once more, weeping over the body of Lily.

She was no stranger to death, of course. Many of her closest compatriots, the hunters, had fallen in combat or love over the years, and she watched as they faded from existence, never to be heard from again. But this was different, somehow. Normally when her hunters died, she felt sadness at the loss of a good friend, and regret for not being able to do more, and occasional a vengeful anger towards those who killed her. She never felt... whatever this emotion was. Like somehow nothing would ever be alright again, like the world had suddenly collapsed beyond hope of repair. It was strange, she really didn't know Lily that well at all. She helped her through her labor, spoke with her, enjoyed the warmth of her home, but that all could have just been her being friendly. Lily could well have never thought of Artemis as a friend at all. So why is it her death made Artemis' world collapse?

Artemis didn't know. She doubted she ever would. All she knew for certain was that she wouldn't mind if order were to lose its long battle and the world were to crumble to chaos right before her eyes.

Rain began falling. Artemis didn't move. Thunder rumbled overhead. Artemis hardly noticed. Her father's voice echoed through the storm with a loud, "Artemis!" Artemis was impassive. A bolt of lightning came down from the heavens, and Artemis' only action was to send what power she could to protect the child in her arms while they both teleported away.

* * *

Sirius arrived at the manor and felt dread in his heart. The green, disgusting, evil symbol of the Dark Lord seemed to be laughing at Potter Manor from the dark clouds. Potter Manor, the place that took him in with warm smiles and open arms when no one else would, damn be the consequences. Potter Manor that now looked ransacked and attacked, all its former homeliness and splendor a distant memory. "Fuck."

Sirius ran down the path, stopping when he spotted two dark figure on the ground. He raised his wand, then lowered it, his brain trying to comprehend what his eyes were that James? And was he kneeling, weeping over a body? But who... oh. Oh no.

"Jamie!" Sirius ran to his side, utilizing all the willpower in his being not to look at the corpse of one of his closest friends, "James, look at me."

James, tears still running down his cheeks looked at Sirius, who had put a hand on his shoulder. Sirius swallowed, "She's dead, James."

"No," James muttered, shaking his head, "No..." his voice was barely a whisper.

"James, please, we have to get out of here." Sirius plead, grabbing his friend.

"No, Sirius," James cried, shaking his shoulders to thrown him off, "Get off of me."

"James, please."

"Get off!" James started thrashing

"James," Sirius ducked below a fist

"GET OFF!"

" _Stupify!_ " James fell over, unconscious. Sirius sighed and pulled his friend off his dead wife, and Sirius had to try and keep from vomiting at the sight of Lily's corpse. Sirius took a steadying breath, then cast a patronus. It took him a few tries before he got the familiar dog looking back at him.

"Moody, Potter manor's been attacked. Send a crew here to protect the place for the night, and a clean up team." He breathed once more, "Lily's dead. I'm bringing James to my house for the night." He was somewhat shocked he managed to get it all out, but watched as the silver-blue form raced into the night.

Sirius glanced down at James and with a mighty pull, brought his best friends body into his arms. He struggled with his wand for a moment, before he got it firmly in his grasp. With a mighty effort, he apparated away. As he felt the familiar, uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through a tube, he felt a pang in his heart. If Lily was dead, then he had no doubt that Harry was gone too. How the hell is he gonna watch when they bury a baby-sized coffin?

* * *

Artemis arrived in her private gardens, feeling exhausted. Funny, she didn't normally feel that. She wandered slowly, aimlessly through the gardens, hardly paying attention to where she was going. She imagined she should head towards the palace, so her feet began heading that way, vaguely. She wondered what her father had called her here to do. It was unusual of him to attempt to throw lightning at her, to say the least. Normally they got along rather well.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a small baby sound coming from her arms. The goddess of the moon looked down to the tiny creature in her arms, and watched as his eyes, still newborn-blue, fluttered open. She stopped her wandering at the edge of the gardens, her eyes focused on the life in her hands. She searched the baby's features. Dark hair, like James', pale skin, almost as fair as Lily's. The baby's eyes were rounded the same way her mother's were, but most of his other features seemed to be from his father.

Harry looked at Artemis with wide eyes. After a pause, he seemed to have made up his mind and stuck out an arm, placing his small hand on her chin. She cracked a smile at that, and Harry smiled back. His smile was familiar somehow, the tilt of his lips, the dimples in his cheeks... Lily's smile.

Artemis' eyes began watering of their own accord. She brought one hand to Harry's cheek, stroking the soft skin. Harry's eyes widened, and he looked confused at the small gestures of the goddess.

"Hello, Harry," Artemis said, her voice wavering.

The baby's hands went from her chin to the hand which stoked his face. Artemis' smile grew at the gesture, but her hand shook slightly. She looked into the baby's eyes, which were looking around as if searching for Lily, "I...I am sorry, I am not your mother, I..." she trailed off, doing all she could to hold back the tears.

"Artemis," the goddess looked up to see Hestia approaching the entrance to her gardens, "may I enter?"

Artemis nodded jerkily, and the goddess of the hearth walked in, her smile gentle, "May I hold him?" she asked her niece softly, with the kindest of smiles.

For a moment, Artemis felt herself tense. Anger flowed through her, how dare Hestia ask for Lily's child? If she saw this, Hestia didn't react, she just remained still, her smile serene, her aura giving off calming waves.

Eventually, Artemis understood the offer for what it was, and placed her friend's child in the safety of her aunt's tender embrace. Hestia smiled at the boy, "What's his name?"

"Harry," Artemis replied, her voice weak, "Harry Potter."

"What a wonderful name," Hestia replied kindly, rocking the babe in her arms, her aura lulling him to sleep. She smiled again at Artemis, then sat down on a nearby Bench. Artemis followed and sat next to her, all the while staring at Harry's now sleeping form.

Hestia said nothing, merely humming the tune to an old lullaby. Artemis smiled at the scene. Harry deserved something like this, the ability to be held by a mother and rocked to sleep. But he wouldn't have that for long, would he? Harry didn't have a mother, not anymore. Artemis had all but seen to that.

Hadn't Apollo warned her? Hadn't he said to turn back? How stupid was she, how naive? And now Harry got to suffer for her mistakes. Artemis felt the tears come again, and this time she didn't hold them back. The goddess of the hunt wept on her aunt's shoulder, barely noticing when Hestia raised an arm to rub small circles in her back.

After a long while, Artemis felt the last of her tears dry on her eyes, and she moved away from the goddess of the hearth, face downcast. Hestia turned and smiled at her, her eyes full of understanding and gentleness, "They've been looking for you, you know?" Artemis didn't, but she nodded anyway, looking away, "My father has called for me, has he not?"

"He has," Hestia replied kindly. She pursed her lips looking at Harry, "He will be safe at my hearth, sweet niece."

Artemis nodded again, standing and looking at her. Her eyes were still puffy from crying, but she was quick to regain her dignity. Still, it was with a gentle voice she said, "Thank you," and left her aunt's side for the Olympian Council room.

Most of the council was gathered, with only Aphrodite missing. In the center of the room, in what seemingly has become their places, were the three fates and Hecate, along with a rarely seen face: Nemesis. As Artemis entered, her head held high, the olympians turned as one to face her.

Zeus' face was grim. "Artemis," he boomed, "step forward."

Artemis moved forward to the central dais, her face impassive. As she walked, she wondered why Nemesis would be here. Afterall, she only attended council sessions when there was a trial, so naturally she wondered who. Then she remembered she had given Lily some of her power, interfering with the life of the prophesied child and thereby breaking among the most ancient laws. She was the one on trial, and the worst part? She was guilty. Her green eyes met her father's sky blue, but she did not speak, for fear of having no voice left to speak with.

Zeus narrowed his eyes at her, "You left Olympus." She didn't respond, so he continued, "You were directly ordered not to, and yet you did." Nothing. Zeus clenched his teeth, "And the Fates have informed me that you interfered directly with the prophecy!" Zeus took a steadying breath, "Well? Why did you feel the need to go against the most ancient of laws?!"

"I don't believe she's in the mood for talking, father." Dionysus said, boredly.

Artemis narrowed her eyes at her father, but remained as impassive as ever. Zeus pinched his nose in frustration, "Proceed, Nemesis."

"Lady Artemis," Nemesis began in a cold tone, "You have been accused of tampering with fate, and in doing so have endangered the fabric of time itself."

Artemis clenched her jaw, "By whom?"

Zeus sighed in simultaneous relief and annoyance that his favorite daughter could speak, but she had said something so petty, "Apollo is the one who reported the evidence."

Artemis slowly turned to look at her twin. He was looking more depressed than she had ever seen him with his head hung low, eyes downcast, and his shoulders shrugged, "I'm sorry, sis," he muttered.

She turned away, not bothering to offer her forgiveness. How could she? Afterall, he was right, in the end. She should have listened to him.

"Do you wish to defend yourself, Artemis?" Zeus asked, his voice grave as ever. Artemis shook her head once. Zeus' eyes betrayed him a moment as they flashed in worry, "Are you certain? The punishment is to be cast off Olympus and imprisoned for all of time." he hesitated a moment, "It would grieve me deeply if we were to do so without first hearing your account of events."

"Then what should I say, father?" Artemis responded, her voice barely holding steady, "Shall I apologize? Shall I explain my actions so you may tell me of my guilt again?"

Shock rippled through the room. Never had any of the other eleven present Olympians and Hades seen the goddess of the hunt seem so... defeated. The younger Olympians shifted uncomfortably in their seats, while Poseidon and Demeter frowned in concern. Hera blinked back her surprise, and even Hades sucked in a breath. Only Zeus was impassive, save his eyes, which were wide with alarm.

"Artemis," came the concerned voice of Hermes, "are you alright?"

Artemis took a deep breath, shutting her eyes in frustration, "Go on then. Give your sentence."

"If the defendant will not speak on her own behalf, then the full punishment is to be served, Lord Zeus." Nemesis pronounced carefully, watching Artemis with confusion.

"Wait," Apollo interjected, and Artemis turned her head once to more look at her twin, "There is another way."

Zeus raised a grey eyebrow, "Yes, Apollo?"

Apollo sighed, seemingly trying to find the words for a while, but then slumped in resignation, "Perhaps it would be best if the three sisters spoke in my stead."

Zeus' eyes narrowed with suspicion as he turned to face the three, "Speak, Fates."

The fates smirked in unison as Lachesis began, "Her crimes are that she has set the course of time out of balance."

"We are aware of dear Artemis' crimes, Lachesis," Hera added imperiously, her eyes glinting slightly a the idea of finally being able to punish her husband's illegitimate daughter, "We hardly need for you deliberate on the matter."

"Of course, Queen Hera," Clotho replied smoothly, "But the fact remains that the future may yet be righted."

"Yes," Atropos added, "If she were to restore the prophecy, she may be able to right the future."

The council was silent for a moment before Athena asked, focused on Apollo, "What, precisely," the cold, calculating look in her eyes was obscured by a level of protectiveness for her sister, "would that entail?"

The fates exchanged gleeful glances at each other. Lachesis began, "her actions caused the death of one who was meant to live."

"This death is what has set time out of array, with the added power from the crooked ne's fragments, it is an inevitability that should this breach be allowed to remain time will rip itself to shreds." Clotho added, her smirk growing steadily.

"If Artemis were to fill the breach, become the one who died," Atropos finished, "then order would be restored."

Artemis' eyes widened. They wanted her to replace Lily? To play a part, what Lily's life was meant to be? No, she couldn't do that. Not her friend, not to anyone. How could Apollo even suggest that? She suppressed a grimace, and continued listening, her eyes still on her father.

"You wish her to pose as a mortal woman?" Hera asked, amused.

"No," Clotho replied with a smile that only seemed to heighten her creepy features.

Athena glared, "No games, Clotho. What is it you wish Artemis to do?"

"She must become a mortal woman." Atropos answered, "Not pose. Become. For the duration of the woman's natural lifetime."

One could have heard a pin drop in the council room during the silence that followed. Then it erupted in shouting.

"You mean to bring down a god?" roared Poseidon, "You step too far!"

"What precedent would that set?" demanded Athena.

"How would that even work?" asked Dionysus, idly.

Artemis watched the chaos, feeling detached from it all.

"ENOUGH!" Zeus roared over the din. Instantly, the room silenced once more. Zeus turned his glare to the three sisters, "Explain, now."

Hecate stepped in, "I believe I may be better suited to the task, my lord." After a slight nod from the King of Olympus, she continued, "It would be possible, theoretically, for Artemis to possess a mortal body, whilst deprived of her godly powers, creating the effect of mortality."

"Which mortal, precisely, are you suggesting?" Hermes asked, he too showing concern for his sister, "In case you hadn't noticed, there are a great many of them."

"The mortal who was among the most directly involved with our great prophecy," Clotho answered impatiently, "Lily Marie Evans-Potter." Artemis visibly paled

"I can't imagine what Lily Marie Evans-Potter will think of a sudden clone of herself running about the place," Athena countered with a sneer.

"Her death was ensured by Artemis' actions," Lachesis replied, a smirk on her face. Artemis flinched, which did not go unnoticed by the rest of the Olympians.

"Should this be commanded, I can cast a spell for all to forget Lily Potter's untimely demise, a simple variation of the mist," Hecate provided, "The body of the deceased sadly cannot be reused, but creating a suitable replacement should be relatively easy."

"Father," Athena interjected before Zeus could respond, "Think of what precedent this sets. Even if it would heal the timeline, it implies that the Fates can adjust punishments to their will."

"The alternative would have your sister thrown from Olympus, Lady Athena," Apollo countered, his voice dejected, "I'm afraid this is the best way. The only way."

"But surely..."

"Athena," Apollo looked at her with pleading eyes, "For once, if you can find it in your heart, trust me. _Please._ "

Athena opened her mouth, then promptly closed it. Zeus considered this for a while, the rest of the room watching with baited breath, "Apollo," he asked, cautiously, "Are you certain this will work?"

Apollo sighed, "It will fix the timeline, yes. I would have to do the duty myself, otherwise."

"But how can you be sure?" Athena asked, "Surely Artemis could do something to upset the cause and effect of the universe? And what of the effects of her being absent?"

"Fear not, Lady of Wisdom," Atropos replied cooly, "Should the punishment be set, then the timeline will right itself."

"The duties of Artemis will still be attended to, though her access to the powers to do so will be restricted by her mortal form," Clotho added.

"Her Hunters reside at Chiron's camp, they can remain there for the duration of this punishment," Lachesis finished.

"Is this true?" Zeus asked Apollo.

Apollo gritted his teeth, "It is, father. Damn it all, it is." He looked at his sister, who was still standing in normal, human form, somehow looking smaller than usual, "I am so sorry..."

Zeus sighed, "A vote then. All in favor of the punishment set for Artemis?"

Zeus gazed around the room, looking for those who would rather have his daughter cast off Olympus. Ares' hand was down, as was Hera's, little surprise there. Poseidon had his hand down, and when Zeus met his gaze the sea god rumbled, "I do not like this obstruction of justice, brother. I would rather she be forgiven altogether."

Zeus nodded in acknowledgment of the reason, for once not angering at his elder brother. He looked around the room to see Dionysus, too had his hand down. When they met gazes, Dionysus shrugged, "What he said."

His gaze shifted, and he raised an eyebrow at Aphrodite, who had seemingly arrived when no one was looking, also with her hand lowered. She smiled in response, not bothering to answer the obvious query. He counted the votes, and sighed, "It is a tie."

"Not quite, brother," came a small voice from opposite him. Zeus raised his gaze to see his eldest sister, a child in her arms, which he tactfully chose to ignore, "Artemis herself still sits on this council, and she still has a vote."

All eyes turned to the goddess whose fate was being determined. Artemis pursed her lips, deep in contemplation. They want her to impersonate her friend? To trick her other friends so callously? To desecrate Lily's memory? "I will n..." _Artemis,_ Hestia's soft voice rang through her head again, _think about what Lily would have wanted._ Artemis turned to look confusedly at the goddess of the hearth's gentle smile. _Think about Harry._

And so Artemis thought about the child. The young boy who was all that was left of her newly departed friend, who had no mother, who could very easily end up with no father, should the war go poorly. And just like that, she had made her decision, "I will submit to this punishment."

Zeus sighed, and the rest of the council exhaled a breath they didn't know they were holding. The king of the gods regained himself, and looked upon his daughter with a fierce expression, "Very well. For the crime of tampering with reality, Artemis, you are banished from Olympus, stripped of your powers and titles, and forced to inhabit a mortal form until such a time as your mortal body fails." Zeus began to glow, slowly revealing his true form, as did the other Olympians. White-grey light flowed from them and attached to Artemis' arms and legs, others forming a series of intricate cages and trap shapes and attaching themselves to various parts of Artemis' true form like a cage, designed to limit her powers.

Hecate raised a hand and a series of blue wispy tendrils which coalesced into the shape of a human form, glowing from the inside out. Zeus released a wave of energy which sent Artemis flying backwards, colliding with the blue outline. A moment later, the Olympians returned to their human-forms, all preening curiously at the naked form that once belonged to Lily Potter. She rolled to her front, pushing herself up groggily. Her arm muscles gave out as she fell into a coughing fit. he coughed once, twice, then on the third time golden blood coated the floor of the council room. With a final, weak move, Artemis collapsed, unconscious

Hestia stepped forward, child still in her arms, walking towards the collapsed body that was now inhabited by her niece. She knelt down, her hand hovering above the woman, forming clothes over the naked skin. She glanced up at Zeus, asking a silent question. Zeus nodded, and the lady of the hearth wrapped her free arm around the woman and with a flash of green flame, they disappeared.

The Fates bowed deeply, then disappeared in their own right, leaving eleven Olympians glancing uncomfortably at the empty throne of Artemis, while Nemesis left the floor, leaving only Hecate. There was a long silence, which seemed content to linger over the gods' heads.

"What I want to know," Hermes asked eventually, breaking the solemnity, "is why Arty seemed to care so much about this woman."

"I too wonder," Athena mused aloud, then turned to the goddess in the center of the room, "Hecate, can you bring up an image of her interactions with this woman?"

"Of course, my Lady," Hecate replied with a slight bow. A black cloud appeared and formed into a mirror image of Artemis, showing all her actions with James and Lily. The gods watched with rapidly widening eyes, watching all the way until Artemis' hearing.

As the images moved past their eyes, Apollo asked in a defeated voice, "Oh, Artemis, what have you done?"

* * *

Artemis woke up staring at an alabaster ceiling. She tried to raise her head, and felt as if the weight of the world were sitting upon her shoulders. I took her a moment, but eventually she managed to sit up, her muscles sore after the effort. She felt... off. As if she was smaller, somehow. What had happen- ? Oh. Oh, of course.

Artemis felt a new pang of grief flow through her, but it was more subdued than the last. Before she could deliberate on the subject, she heard a cry from an adjacent room. _Harry._

The former goddess stood quickly, walking across the cherry wood floors and into the adjacent room. It was similar to the room she saw the last day, with two side tables on either end, each topped with a myriad of baby supplies. On the far end, underneath a small mobile was a white crib. On the leftmost side there was a large window, while on the right there was what looked to be the entry to a closet.

Artemis walked to the crib side, peering down at the red face of the baby inside. She gently leaned over, picking up the child, who calmed as soon as she did. He raised up a small hand, and Artemis agreeably placed a finger in his small hand, which he immediately grasped and squeezed. Artemis smiled in response, turning to walk the child into the other room. She took a step, but stopped as soon as she looked up.

Lily was staring back at her, Harry in her arms. For a split second, Artemis wanted to run to her friend, rejoice in her company once more. But then she realized that she was looking at a mirror hung on the back of the door, and her mood dropped like a stone. She stared, motionless at the body her friend once occupied, the body she now occupied, feeling a gnawing feeling of dread grow in her heart.

"Lily-love," a voice sing-songed from somewhere else in the manor, "I've brought your errant husband back!"

Artemis, as quickly as she could, placed Harry back in his crib, feeling dread growing in her heart. She couldn't act like Lily, she was simply incapable of it, at least for an indefinite period of time. She had to tell him the truth, a realization that, as soon as she had it, she realized how impossible that would be. How could she tell her friend that his wife was dead, and that she was sent by a council of gods to impersonate her? Her mind automatically reeled for alternate solutions, and came up quickly with breaking the spell he had been put under. It was likely a compulsion spell, similar in structure to the mist, and as such would be broken by breaking through the memory block. Artemis blinked a few times, wondering where that knowledge of magic had come from, and realized that Hecate must have given her some of Lily's memories. Probably so she could more seamlessly blend into the life Lily should be living. The thought almost made her gag.

"Oh, hush Sirius," James' voice commanded, along with the thundering sound of feet running up a staircase. A moment passed before she heard her friend's voice again, "Lily? You in here?" James asked, poking his head through the door, throwing the ghostly-image of her friend away.

"James," Artemis acknowledged eventually, making Lily's voice sound unbearably haughty.

"Are you feeling alright, love?" James asked, his brow furrowing with worry as he approached her.

Artemis shook her head, "I'm fine James."

James pursed his lips, "Is this about me going off with Sirius? I swear, I don't know what we were thinking, leaving you alone here and all, but frankly I'm certain it was Padfoot's fault..."

"Hey, you know I'm still here, right?" Sirius' voice came from below.

She would worry about that later, "James, we need to talk."

"Um.. okay, Lily," James said, his eyes now fully alert and full of concern, "What do you want to talk about?"

Artemis inhaled, "James, what happened last night?"

"So that _is_ what this is about?" James asked incredulously, "Honestly, nothing happened. I just went over to Pads' after the Quidditch game, I crashed soon as i hit the couch. Maybe I had a drink or two too many, which I'm sorry for, but I didn't think you'd..."

"James," Artemis interrupted, "That's not what happened."

"Honey, I don't know why you think that, but i promise-" James explained apologetically.

"Who was playing?" Artemis asked quickly, the realization that Quidditch was a sport coming from Lily's memories.

James paused for a moment, thinking. Her turned to her with a panicked look on his face, "Okay, I know it looks bad."

"James, what happened yesterday?" Artemis demanded, desperation in her voice, "Repeat the whole day."

James paused, his mind clearly racing, "I... i went to work in the morning to catch up on paperwork. Sirius came by and we got through it pretty quick, so we went out to get lunch. He had to go check on Peter and his mom, so he left while I payed the tab. Then I went home. " His face scrunched in confusion, "But... wait, that.. doesn't make sense."

"What happened when you got home?"

"We sat with Harry for a while, but we stopped because," James seemed to think for a moment, "Because there was a flash of light. Then there was... an attack on the manor?" James' eyes widened suddenly, "Merlin. The manor, there were death eaters everywhere and... and _he_ showed up, and you fought him off, but..." James stared at her, "You... Lily you died."

"Lily did die, james," Artemis replied in a small voice, "I'm not her."

"But then... but..." James was backing towards the door

"I'm Artemis, James. The gods saw fit to force me into Lily's form..." Artemis explained.

"N.. no, wait, no it's all," james looked down, shaking his head, his hand suddenly being supported by the wall. Artemis didn't say anything, but James eventually took a deep breath, "So that's why I was with Pads. Oh, Merlin, I just..." He held his head in one hand, his weight still against the wall, "I... just leave me alone for a while. I need... I need a moment." James said, and quickly left the room, unnoticingly slamming the door shut behind him.

Artemis sighed turning to see harry suddenly crying from the loud noise. She raised the child into her arms, cooing over him and making soothing noises to try and calm him. Soon after a voice came from the door again, "Lily-love?" Artemis turned to see the grinning face of Sirius, "Everything alright in here?"

"Yes, James just... heard some bad news." Lily replied eventually, rocking Harry in her arms as she did so.

"Is that why he was doing his best impression of Malfoy on his time of the month?" Sirius asked with a sly grin.

Artemis felt a pang of anger at the slight of women's health, "Sirius..." she growled with a warning tone.

"Oh come on, you know you love me." His face quickly switched to a more serious demeanor, "Was it something I should know about?"

"It's..." Artemis thought for a moment before deciding, "It's not mine to share."

"Well, given that James doesn't seem much in the mood for talking, I think I'll be off," Sirius replied, thinking that James normally just needed time to cool off, "See you later, Lils."

"Goodbye, Sirius," Artemis replied congenially, looking back down at the babe in her arms and clutching him closely to her chest like a child would a beloved doll.

Sirius' smirk died as he descended the stairs of Potter manor, thinking about how odd it was to see Lily and James so sad. Well, at least he got to see his godson again. As he left the door to the manor and began apparating away, he suddenly stopped, and quickly turned to look back. But wasn't Harry dead?

* * *

 **A/N**

Grief is hard to write kids, tell your friends. That said, I really like this one. Thought it turned out real nice, especially Hestia, my favorite of the Olympians. Also, a lot just happened, eh? Hope you like it. Also also, talk about a fast update! 5k word in half a week? I should get a metal. The "Yay I just updated in a reasonable time frame" award, perhaps.

Vangran: So you were sorta right, I suppose. We'll have more of what James does in reaction to all of the rather game changing events in the next chapter, then the final chapter after that. That said, we will be focusing more and more on Artemis from now on, so I hope you'll forgive me that.

nikkali44: This is next! Bam, bet you didn't see this coming. Hope you like it

Phoebe Huntress: Oh, but i can. I can do this indeed.

Queen Bookworm the First: Aw, shucks. I'm glad you like it, hope you continue liking it.

Umbra Venator: Thanks!

davy crockett 100: You just wrote ok. Is that a review? Is the story ok? The chapter? Regardless, it's better than I normally expect, so I'll take it.

Titania queen of fairys: My turns are always interesting. Which is, perhaps, why I don't have a driver's license.

Penny Lu: The cliffhanger strikes!

mhdluqman: I am a cruel man. Also, no problem! Updating easy, free, and a great way to avoid studying!

ww1990ww: Based on the back and forth we have, I have a feeling you may not like this turn of events because we're returning to the original canon timeline, so lemme explain. This story was written about Artemis above all other characters, it's a story explaining a change in her outlook on life rather than a change in the Harry Potter continuity. Maybe you won't mind because events are still occurring that are original, I dunno, but hopefully you can forgive the obvious prelude to the forgone conclusion of this story. In other words, the prophecy has been protected in this chapter, and so you know what's gonna happen, more or less.

You're right about the Artemis/James thing. Artemis is pretty asexual by nature, though admittedly not completely so. James would certainly not betray the memory of Lily for a long while, though I think a decade is pushing it.

Also, Vertigo Lucy is a great character and if i keep writing these things (which, I dunno, maybe I will) someone very similar to him may well show up, I dunno.

Illusionist Owl: The aftermath, I hope, was good, if not what you were expecting. To answer your question, yes and no. It won't ever really be explicitly said, but in my mind Apollo more feared the trial in this chapter than the death in the last. Maybe you think differently, it's up to you.

Vatsyayanna69: Artemis interacted with Harry! She was sad, it was sad, things may get better, but probably not.

amata0221: Your hope was in vain, I'm afraid. But hopefully it's a relatively lack punishment? Right?

m j readings: I think so, yeah. The whole point of this chapter was that they had to get things back on track to the way it was, so yeah, Harry's the BWL. James is not in a great spot, is he?

Wedlamzendink: I'll spare you the pain of having to respond to this one, and just thank you for the compliment, eh?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - August and Everything After**

James stayed in his office for the day, and Artemis didn't have in it her to face him. Instead she took care of Harry, sitting in front of the hearth fire, trying to hold back the tears. Harry, as an infant, did not understand this, and instead seemed content to alternate between whining loudly for various needs and sleeping in a tight bundle that Artemis held to her she had no experience with taking care of a baby, it seemed to be second nature to her, thankfully. She was thankful that this form was capable of feeding the infant, fearing what the alternative might mean for the child's development.

It was strange, but the simple act of taking care of the child of her friend made her feel better about things. That it did gave her some mixed feelings on its own. Was she doing this in Lily's name? Or was she doing it for her own benefit, to help alleviate her own guilt? She hoped it was the former, but she wasn't certain.

She was a little surprised when she heard a little voice behind her half-way through the day tell her that lunch was ready, and address her by 'mistress.' Of course, Lily's memories of the tiny creatures called house elves filled in the blanks there. Though she was stubbornly refusing whenever they asked to take care of Harry, no matter how much hurt they showed in their eyes.

The following day wasn't much better. James went to work, not saying a word to her that morning, but spending a moment to kiss Harry's forehead, then going on his way. When he came back, he went to Harry's room and played with his son for a few minutes, then went back to the guest room, eyes wet and red. Artemis didn't stop him, not that she would know how if she '[

wanted to. She was unused to these... feelings. Of grief, guilt, and an immense desire to go back in time and undo her mistakes. So she merely sat with a cup of tea, and contemplated her life.

The days slid by at a snail's pace. Artemis was glad for Lily's strange responsibilities after long. She had these large stacks of papers that were sent to her every day that she had to fill out, which was tedious, but it was at least something to do. Her mind called it "desk duty," and Lily's memory of it was anything but positive, but Artemis found it a workable distraction from the stress of worrying about James and Harry. Not to mention, doing it seemed to bring more images from Lily's past to her mind. Later in the week, Artemis followed a habit of Lily's and took Harry out for a walk through the grounds of the manor, but turned before she reached the forest edge. She wasn't sure she could survive being in the forest without feeling connected to it, feeling like it was her domain.

Friday night came with James arriving later in the day as he always did. Artemis had a meal prepared by the elves, largely because she had begun to notice the negative effects of not eating enough, and was concerned that James might be feeling the same. He certainly _looked_ thinner.

James sat down at the dining table and looked down at the simple meal prepared, then watched as Artemis placed Harry in the carrier next to the table while she ate. Harry began whining after a while, and Artemis speedily turned and burped him in a clean motion. James smiled at the sight of his wife burping his son, until he remembered that his wife wasn't his wife, she was merely a greek goddess. Another wave of sadness and hopelessness washed over him, and he nearly collapsed into his meal (the first proper one he'd eaten since Lily died,) when he saw Harry looking at him. As he met his son's gaze, he noticed the baby's lip quivering as if to cry again. And that's when James knew that enough was enough.

"Li... Artemis, we need to talk," James said suddenly, getting a quick turn a startled look from the goddess.

"Yes, James?" Artemis asked, and James was privately thankful that she kept her previous, normally haughty tone when talking which Lily would _never_ use. It made it easier to remember they weren't the same.

"What, exactly, happened?" James demanded, "Why are you here?"

Artemis pursed her lips, "I'm not sure what to say..." she admitted after a long pause.

James sighed, "Just tell me everything, from after Lily..." he trailed off, still unable to say it, "To now, everything. I can handle it." James promised.

Artemis hesitated, "I can't, I..."

"Why not?" James demanded, realizing too late how forceful his tone was, and taking a deep breath, "Sorry, but is there some rule?"

"No, I just," Artemis struggled, "I fear how you will react to it." And that he may well hate her for her mistakes, and she couldn't blame him for it. She had erred dramatically, and she was entirely to blame for the consequences.

"Artemis, please" James plead, his composure regained and his eyes serious, "I need to know. For Harry."

Artemis met James' hazel eyes, and saw his honesty plain in them. So she told him everything, from the moment she stepped onto Potter Manor's ground down to the moment she saw James return home. The whole time James watched silently, nodding in the places he already knew and wincing anytime Lily's name was mentioned. By the end, Artemis was fighting back the tears, and James wasn't doing any better.

At the end of her story, Artemis sighed, "I'm sorry James." a single tear ran down her cheek as she met his gaze, "For everything."

Then James did something she didn't expect. Instead of cursing or shouting his anger at her mistakes he merely replied, "It's not your fault," stood, and left for the guest room. When Artemis heard the door shut, she wept softly while taking care of little Harry more.

* * *

The next day, James came into the nursery and told Artemis that there would be an order meeting that day. She understood, of course, and continued caring for the child. At midday when lunch was prepared, James came in once more.

"Artemis," he said after a pause, clearly still having to think about her with the new name, "We have to talk."

"You seem to say that a lot," Artemis observed while setting Harry down in his carrier.

Artemis' spirits raised when she saw a small smirk appear at the jab, only to fall when his frown returned, "You remember the prophecy."

Artemis' expression darkened considerably, "Yes."

James continued, "Our- Lily and my former headmaster has suggested we go into hiding to protect Harry."

Artemis nodded to herself. In her many quiet musings, she had wondered if it would come to that, "What about your work?" she asked, wondering about the work she had been doing for Lily as well.

James grimaced, "We'll have to apparate from the property to wherever we want to go. We can still work, but we'll have to vary our schedules more, make our movements harder to predict." James sighed again, "I don't like it. To be honest with you, I've hated the last whole damn week, but it's what I have to do. Lily's..." he trailed off, losing his composure for a moment before taking a steadying breath and pressing on, "Lily's dead. Remus is going on a long term mission to the werewolf clans on the continent, Peter's stuck every other day either working or taking care of his sick mum. Only Sirius is left, and he's going on more field missions by the week. My only priority left is Harry." He gave her a pleading look, "I'll do anything to keep him safe."

Artemis kept his gaze for a long while, before asking, "What do you need me to do?"

"After the order meeting today, we'll go. You'll need to cast the fidelius charm on me and Sirius, making him the secret keeper." James explained, then gave her a questioning look, "You can do that, right?"

Artemis thought for a moment until the wand movements, incantation and spellwork came to her mind, "I can."

James nodded, "Good." They spent the rest of the meal eating in silence. As he finished, rose and placed his dishes in the sink, James softly spoke, "Thank you." At Artemis' raised eyebrow, he replied, "For taking care of Harry."

Artemis didn't know what to say, so she merely nodded. The rest of the day was spent organizing the house elves to bring their things to the new house, then Artemis taking Harry out for a walk until she realized it was time to prepare for the Order meeting.

* * *

Sirius was familiar with danger. In his line of work, it was considered par for the course. Alright, that's not really true. Mostly it was just desk work and arguing with Moody, but he'd always wanted to say that.

He was getting off track. Where was he? Oh, Potter Manor, how nice. Why? Ah, yes, the order meeting. He should probably be paying attention to that. Sirius clued in to the debate raging around him.

"Why would they be using the old Black Manor as a base? They don't have the support of the house, at least not officially. It would raise too many questions!" demanded an irate Frank.

"Which is exactly why they would do it," argued Gideon, "Where better to keep a hidden base than somewhere they're not supposed to be?"

"It would be too suspect," Frank countered.

"Much as I love my darling family, I doubt they'd be one to take such a heavy risk," Sirius pointed out to the arguing pair, "At least not at the old Black Manor."

Frank turned to him, "Thank you!" he said, throwing his hands into the air with exasperation.

There was a click as the door opened, causing all of the heads in the room to turn to see Dumbledore enter, "Ah, friends. It is good to see you." Sirius examined his face, looking at the seemingly deepened worry lines and the dark circles under his eyes. If he were in a better mood, he might scoff that this war was even aging _him_. But he wasn't.

His eyes narrowed as they found Lily's form of their own accord, which was huddled around Harry like Narcissa used to protect her dolls from Bella. He said Lily's form, it certainly _looks_ like Lily. But Sirius had no doubt that whatever it was that currently held his godson, it wasn't Lily.

"Albus," Moody was saying, "Do you have news?"

Albus' smile fell into a solemn frown, "I'm afraid I do. We have located the base of operations of the Death Eaters."

The room was sent into a stunned silence. "Well?" Frank demanded, eventually, "Where is it?"

"The Gamp Manor," Dumbledore said quietly, eliciting a small murmuring from the order.

"Well, aside from me being right," Gideon smirked, "Why would you think this such bad news, Albus?"

Albus was quiet a moment, "This information was gathered by tracking the LeStrange family movements. It would seem that Bellatrix has taken up residence there, with her daughter."

"Why should that be pertinent?" Lily's voice came, "Far more than one child's death could be prevented by such a raid as has been discussed."

The room looked in shock at Not-Lily. Sirius wasn't. Of course, if it was the real Lily, he would have been stunned that she would even suggest that a child may be harmed for the greater good. But it wasn't Lily, of course, it was probably some Death Eater using Polyjuice potion, or maybe something else to look like Lily. Looking at the faces, Not-Lily quickly added, "I'm not saying we seek to injure her, but the risk is justified."

"I agree with Lily," Moody added, "This is not the time for pussy-footing around. We're at war!"

"With that mantra, we're no better than the Death Eaters!" protested Fabian, who was still eyeing Lily with a degree of surprise.

"I'm afraid we have no choice," Dumbledore replied gravely, "The number of Death Eater attacks have been steadily increasing, and two of our own are now threatened." He said with a nod to the Longbottoms and Potters, "We must be prepared to act for the greater good."

"And if it was one our children in the line of fire?" asked Alice, who looked at Lily with something akin to betrayal, "Would you still act for the greater good?"

"If it prevented all the rest of our children from being killed?" asked Edgar Bones, his face red with vehemence, "I say we ought to strike fast and hard. The sooner we attack, the sooner the war ends."

"The war will hardly end with one headquarters being destroyed," Frank argued, but his lips were taught, "But... it would be helpful. I say we should begin a plan."

"All in favor of the planned attack?" asked Dumbledore. Sirius watched as Lily raised her hand, and tactfully didn't follow suit. If this death-eater wanted the attack to happen, it was doubtlessly a trap. He caught the gazes of all the other Marauders, but only Peter followed his lead. Not that it helped in the end, the attack was voted into action, and the rest of the meeting was spent by hurried planning and discussing scouting operations.

All the while, Sirius watched Not-Lily as she stayed mostly silent, rubbing Harry's back soothingly. Merlin did it scare him how close she was to his godson. She didn't doubt that that was his godson, of course. Voldemort hadn't cared about the Potters until the prophecy had come up, so he'd have no reason to replace Harry with a look-alike baby. Clearly, Harry had somehow been retrieved and returned to the Potter Manor, though who could have done that, he honestly had no idea. To his knowledge, there wasn't anyone else in the manor...

His focus returned to Not-Lily. She would exchange an occasional glance with James, but instead of their normal happy smiles, they exchanged worried glances and some sort of dread in their eyes. Sirius wondered if this meant that somehow Not-Lily had fooled him into believing her, or if he knew who she was, and was keeping a close eye on her, too.

"I'm afraid I have one more announcement," Dumbledore added at the end, "This will be the last chance for us to meet in this room." This elicited some quiet murmurings from the order, but Dumbledore raised a hand for silence, "After a recent, credible threat from the Death Eaters, the Potters have decided it would be best to enter hiding."

"James and Lily?" Fabian asked, "Does that mean they won't be part of the order?"

"We're hiding, not dying," James answered easily, "We'll still be here to kick some Death Eater ass." He said with his normal grin.

Sirius wasn't grinning. He had known about the plan, of course. All of the marauders did. Not-Lily apparently even asked him to be the secret-keeper, which sent of all sorts of red flags in his mind. Why would a Death Eater want _him_ to be secret keeper? Did she think him that susceptible to imperius, or did she know he knew her secret, and was playing some sort of reverse psychology-tactic? He doubted that, he'd been subtle thus far with his suspicions of her. Still, he would have to tread carefully.

"Quite," Dumbledore interrupted merrily, "Well, if there's nothing else, I suppose that will be it." The order members all gave stiff nods to each other, then departed in their various ways. A few lingered, speaking in hushed tones to friends and acquaintances.

"Sirius," James' voice came, deeper than normal, more oddly resonant, "It's time."

Sirius stood up, and couldn't help but smile as he saw James standing next to Peter, huddled together in a small semicircle, Lily and little Harry behind them. "Right-o, let's get to it, then!"

James produced a piece of cloth which all members of the party grabbed onto, then with a slight tug at their navel, they appeared at the edge of the cottage. Sirius examined the rain-swept cobblestone path to the quaint english cottage, looking at all the details of the little structure. He had to admit, it suited James and Lily well. The couple walked forward, Lily's arms still around Harry, and they entered the building.

Sirius followed in soon after, and took in his friend's new home. It was decidedly quaint, with a traditional english stucco walls. There was a stone hearth in the back of the front room around which was a seating arrangement, a small table took up the left side, while the right was occupied by the kitchen which was tucked behind the staircase going up to the rooms.

"Home sweet home, eh?" James said with a smirk that didn't reach his eyes. He turned quickly to look at Not-Lily, "You ready?"

"I am," Not-Lily said in a haughty tone, placing Harry down in a nearby carrier.

"Er..." Peter interjected in a small, stuttering voice, "Wh-why a-am I here, exactly?"

"We need you to check that the spell's working." James replied, looking at Wormy with a smile.

Sirius gave a wary glance at his godson and Not-Lily, saw how close they were, how threatened Harry was, and made up his mind, "Actually, James?" James looked at him with surprise, "I think he should be your secret keeper."

"Sirius," James said, his grin fading quickly, "Are you saying...?"

"I won't betray you, Prongs," he didn't add, 'though your not-wife might,' "But if it'd be too obvious if I were secret keeper. They'd find me and torture me until I talked. This way at least if they capture me, you have time to find out and escape." He explained his reasoning, but it was a lie. He didn't want to play into not-Lily's hand, and this was the perfect way to disrupt her plans. Afterall, if they wanted him, the white sheep of the Black family, to be the secret keeper, how disappointed would they be when they got little Wormy, the near-squib half-blood?

James thought about it a moment, before giving a troubled glance at his not-wife, "What do you think?" Her eyes glazed over a moment, then she nodded. James sighed, "Alright, then, Wormy?"

"O-of course, Prongs," Peter replied, nodding eagerly, then took Sirius' place opposite James.

The two marauders held wands out at each other, looking like they were about to start dueling, and not-Lily stood between them. She breathed in, then performed a complicated swish of her wand and pronounced cooly, " _Fidelius!_ "

A blue-white wave shot out of her wand tip, glowing slightly as it hit Peter, then shooting out to the walls of the room, then out. Not-Lily's breath was harsher as she regained herself, James offer her his hand as she did.

"Well?" Peter asked demandingly, which was honestly slightly disarming coming from him, "Did it work?"

"Sirius," James asked, "Where are we?"

"We're... uh..." Sirius looked around the place, taking in the distantly familiar surroundings but not quite able to place them, "Uh... I dunno, Prongsy."

"Wormy?" James asked, letting not-Lily settle down on one of the couches in front of the fire.

"We're in the Potter Cottage in Godric's Hollow." Wormtail replied cheerily, then quickly remembering, "Oh, right," he turned to get a sheet of parchment from the nearby table and wrote the address down quickly a dozen times, "There you go!" He handed the sheet off to James merrily.

"Well, I guess if that's all, we'd best get home, eh?" Sirius said after the exchange ended, "See you later, mate."

"You too Padfoot, Wormy," James replied as the pair of friends left the cottage. Sirius gave one last glance at the family inside, noting with worry how not-Lily's gaze was still on Harry. How does he protect his godson from his own mother?

* * *

Artemis clutched Lily's wand tightly, her palms slightly sweaty. They had been in hiding for two months now, all the while she had been on desk duty, taking care of Harry. Harry had been growing quickly, his eyes were now Lily's brilliant green which gave her a bittersweet feeling whenever he gazed at her with those emerald eyes. He had begun playing more. Once he had been playing with an enchanted toy fairy which hovered over his crib and he put it directly into her mouth, much to the toy's apparent discomfort, which sent Artemis into her first giggle in millenia. But now was not the time for happy thoughts. She was on a job.

She was on her first major Order operation. At her left James was watching the english countryside for any movement, his muscles tight and face focused. Not for the first time, Artemis was reminded of another, old, male friend. She looked up at a place in the night sky, and looked at what remained of his spirit, striding across the sky.

"Artemis?" came a rushed whisper from James.

"Nothing," Artemis replied in a equal hush, and she was on the hunt. Her eyes traced the outline of Gamp Manor on the opposite arm of a valley formed by two rolling hills, standing on the ground once occupied by a small shrine to her half-sister in her roman form, Minerva. The manor had been there for a long while, of course, but Artemis' was a long memory.

Suddenly a red flash arched through the night sky behind the manor, and Artemis and James began their charge. They climbed aboard broomsticks and shot through the sky, quickly ascending to a high point above the valley. From up there, Artemis could see the simultaneous attacks of Sirius, Remus and Moody at the back of the manor along with the main contingent of Order forces on the west wing. She did a quick glance around to see the dozen flying order members who she was stationed with. They would attack from the top floor down, while the others took the lower floors of the manor in quick succession.

Then Artemis began her descent, and the fighters formed a v as they dove directly towards the north face. She shot off a spell at the directly in front of her, blasting away the glass. Then she leveled her broom and braced herself.

A moment later, she was in a darkly decorated corridor, with golden furnishing creating odd cascades of light from bewitched candelabras. On the side opposite her, there was a railing which overlooked what one could unironically call a grand staircase.

"They're here!" came a sudden shout, and Artemis turned to see the greasy git himself (apparently his name was Severus, but Lily's memory jumped to greasy git before that) looking shocked at the sudden entrance.

She cast a quick spell at him, which he, to his credit, deflected with remarkable skill. But a second blast from a nearby Order member took him off guard, sending him flying into a wall, unconscious. She turned left, side by side with James and storming the west wing.

An oak door stood in their path, which was quickly rectified by a well placed reductor curse from James. They burst into the next room, and immediately dodged under a flight of curses and took cover behind an upturned table.

Artemis steadied her breaths, counting the sources of spells. There were three, one from each corner opposite them in the rectangular room, and one from the left side, near what seemed to be a door.

Artemis gave quick hand signal to James, and they rose at the same moment, casting a flurry of hexes and curses at the men in the corners. A tall one who she recognized as Lucius Malfoy was putting up a valiant effort against her, using more dark spells than she thought mortals capable of divining, but Lily's forms were more precise, more exact. Artemis quickly found the upper hand, sending a series of flaming, serpentine spells racing through the air, lighting up red and gold. Lucius was sent spiraling backwards, each spell only just being blocked before he got his wand in position to defend against the next.

He was almost back to back with a window when James shouted, "Duck!"

Artemis dropped in half a moment, a lime green curse cracking overhead. When she got back to her feet, the blonde man had broken through the window and flown away. Artemis spun to face the source of the spell, only to find herself face to face with _her._

Bellatrix Lestrange stood in the entryway of a neighboring room, wand raised at her. The woman who murdered Lily Potter, not that she remembered it, of course. Artemis didn't hesitate, sending a blinding array of curses and hexes, each more powerful than the last.

Bellatrix countered, not giving an inch, sending powerful shields followed by more powerful curses. Artemis would almost be impressed, if she weren't so focused on pushing this mortal form to it's limit in the effort to rid the world of this parasite. That said, Artemis quickly realized she could just break through the woman's defenses, she was too quick to hide behind the wall. Artemis sent a blast into the door hanging opposite Bellatrix, knocking the woman sideways, and giving up her position in the doorway.

Artemis lept over the furnishings of the room, narrowly dodging a few curses the man James was dueling put out, and running into the room. She was greeted by a light blue spell, which she swatted away with a shield and countered with a stunning spell. Bellatrix ducked out of the way, moving towards the end of the room opposite her.

Artemis cast another, which Bellatrix shielded against, sending a poorly aimed curse afterwards, still running towards the opposite end of the room. Artemis sneered, sending a blasting curse at the woman's feet, not wanting to kill her too quickly. Bellatrix turned at that, sending up an overpowered shield charm between them.

Artemis responded by sending three cutting spells and shattering the shield. Bellatrix sent out a cruciatus, which Artemis dodged under and answered with a blood-boiling curse. Bellatrix swore loudly, knocking the spell aside and standing on the far end of the room, a few feet from the wall. Artemis rose to her feet again, and with a mighty intake of breath, sent a huge, crackling bolt of red lightning from her wand.

Bellatrix's eyes widened in fright, and she raised a shield, her eyes bouncing from edge to edge of the blue-white aegis. Artemis intensified in response, trying to get the lightning to arc over her shield and strike the murderess. The woman's eyes went wide with panic, and she backpedaled quickly, strangely moving the shield away from herself and in front of a wooden box behind her. Artemis cut off the spell with a wave of her wand, quickly sending a hex behind it which caught Bellatrix off guard, launching her into the wall behind the box.

Except it wasn't a box. It was a crib, inside which sat a small, black haired child suckling their thumb. Artemis' heart clenched. Harry, how was Harry here? She should be with Andromeda, James trusted her! How could she kidnap my... Her mind caught up and reminded her that the baby wasn't Harry. She stared at the child, who seemed to be in tears, though a silencing charm had been placed around the crib muffling the noise of the babe's weeping. She was transfixed a moment too long, as a curse came out of her periphery, purple-black and jagged, and struck her shoulder, sending her backwards and putting a huge gash in it's place.

Bellatrix ignored her, rushing to the baby's side and clutching the child, visible a moment longer before she disappeared with a pop. Artemis' vision began clouding, her shoulder blaring with pain as she struggled to get back to her feet. She felt a strong hand supporting her, and before she blacked out she caught view of James' eyes full of worry.

* * *

 **A/N:**

So, this one is delayed and short. Why? Well, because of finals. And also, well, uh, I plotted the next five friggin books in this series. The next even has a chapter by chapter outline, isn't that something? So if anyone asks me a question about what will happen later in the series, I'll know the answer now (but probably still won't say, that's just the way it is.) For the record, I'm open to sending it to anyone, so if you want to see it, PM me, I'll send it.

Incidentally, I wanted to show in this chapter how Artemis begins going from treating Harry like a security blanket to her son. I feel like that sort of began coming across, but my biggest problem in writing this was where, exactly to put the battle scene to balance out that with the actual plot. It was tough, but putting it in here really will make the story flow a little better (I hope). I'm sorry if things are too cluttered, but there's but one chapter left, then the epilogue.

draco7347: Thanks! Unfortunately I only have like two more updates after this one, but there'll be a sequel! (Probably)

Please Read my Stuff: Thanks!

PheobeHuntress: Interesting indeed! Though we are now all but in the denouement

Guest: Uhm, weeeeelllllll, uh, sorta?

ww1990ww: Interesting indeed (I hope)!

Illusionit Owl: I won't lie, this one made me crack a huge goofy grin. I'm so glad you got the emotion from that chapter, it was literally the entire point.

amata0221: James will not be okay

Bookworm2950: I'm really glad you're getting into it. Hestia may or may not make an appearance, but remember that Zeus has all but banned the gods from interacting with Britain at all. The "power he knows not" will not show up in this story, or the next one, or maybe even the next one, that's unclear.

Vatsyayana69: I'm glad you liked it. We're almost done, so I hope you like how things are going.

davycrockett100: A solid flavor, though frequently overused. I give it a 7/10.

Penny Lu: I'm glad it's awesome and I will unconfuse. Artemis cannot die, she is possessing the body of a mortal, sorta been trapped in it. Think about how Cronus possessed Luke in The Last Olympian. It's similar, except the body she inhabited had no soul, so she doesn't have to worry about insurrection. If and when she dies, her prison goes away, and she's brought back to her godly status. (Also, while I'm here, it is godly, not goddessly. This is actual a thing english took from its latin roots, because in latin, plurals are always male. That's also why we can call all of humanity "Man" and "Mankind." This is apropos of nothing, just thought you'd like to know.)

m j readings: I'm glad that you cried! Wait no. I'm glad it caused emotion! That means it worked! Also Artemis cannot die, no matter the circumstances, though the body she's possessing can

frozenfirkitsune: Well, I'm glad you're hooked at this point, though it is the end.


End file.
